The end of the transfer window is coming which means the league season is just around the corner. Here is a Summary of West Ham.

One First Team Player has arrived at Rush Green this Summer and even that was a loan with an option to buy. Every day there seems to be very little progress in the Summer Transfer Window for the Hammers and the recurring theme throughout seems to be getting over the final hurdle. This could partly be due to the fact that Rob Newman, West Ham’s incoming Head of Recruitment has been denied the chance to join the club in time for the Summer Transfer Window and has been placed on Gardening Leave by his current employers (Manchester City). It must be because the Sheik sees West Ham as such a massive threat to their title defence – the only possible logical conclusion. If only David Sullivan’s transfer negotiations had the ability to finish off like the toys that fill David Gold’s shops. Currently, the only thing edging closer seems to be GSB in their three-way circle-jerk, viciously fending off interest from the voyeurism of PAI Capital who have been patiently waiting in the wings ready to blow their load all over the Olympic Park and London Stadium.

Before going through the potential incoming transfers, its important to consider the recent changes to the clubs financial position. Felipe Anderson and Sebastian Haller have both left the club since the turn of the year freeing up a reported £115k and £85k per week respectively. With no replacements incoming in these positions, it would be right for West Ham fans to assume that this would still be available in the budget. In addition to this, David Moyes’ Massive Bastards secured European Football last time out which would have massively exceeded the expectations of the mid table finish and the associated budgets planned for that league result. The club now find themselves with the added bonus of qualifying for the BTEC Champions League which brings 2.92mil Euros for automatically qualifying for the group stages and an extra 500k Euros for each additional win. While this is not a massive amount, it is important to remember that this is surplus to what the board would have budgeted for in their forecast.

Looking at the First Team Squad, its baffling to imagine just why this transfer window has been so quiet. With the threat of Antonio’s plasticine hamstrings and him being the only “recognised” Striker in the squad (using “recognised” very loosely), you can’t help but feel that West Ham will be scratching around for their source of goals by the end of September. Maybe they can look to the 4 Goalkeepers that they will have registered in the PL to learn a new position and follow in Antonio’s footsteps from back when Moyes took charge for the second time. Or perhaps Diop can move to an auxiliary Forward which had been widely reported to have taken place in Training at the back end of last season. I’m sure any Chairmen worth their pinch of salt will know that this isn’t giving the Manager adequate resources to do their job and hence why Moyes has now openly said that he wants to be involved with all negotiations with intermediaries.

Then there is the question of the Defence. The excitement of the Euros over the Summer may have washed the memory of some fickle supporters, but you may recall the 10 goals conceded in 4 games at the business end of the campaign to Arsenal, Wolves, Leicester and Newcastle. It seemed that going 3-0 up for the Irons was a dangerous score line and they looked susceptible and prone to mistakes, missing Declan Rice to cover up for their defensive frailties. I dread to think the number of pairs of underwear that the Wives and Girlfriends of supporters ended up cleaning the skiddies out of and it seemed that every week just threw up more squeakybum time given what was at stake in the Prem and that Champions League was within touching distance of coming to the Running Track. With Balbeuna leaving the club, Diop not fulfilling the desired potential and Ogbonna looking like he could be out for some time after being subbed off in the 5thminute against Celtic, the centre of defence will be another area to strengthen.

Targets:- Nikola Milenkovic – a deal worth between £14m and £18m could be enough to secure his services from Fiorentina. The Serb is out of contract at the end of the Season and the Italians will be keen to recoup some his value. Talks are “edging closer” and the 6’5” CB would further compliment West Ham’s success from Set Pieces and has looked comfortable playing out from the back in Serie A.

Kurt Zouma – A proven Premier League Defender who has linked up with Areola at International Level. The Blues are looking to offload Zouma to make way for Kounde’s arrival from Sevilla however talks have been “edging closer” for a number of weeks now.

Duje Caleta-Car – The Plan B if Milenkovic and Zouma fall through. Caleta-Car has been on the radar for some time now when a £20m bid was tabled on Deadline Day last Summer. The Croatian plies his trade at Marseille who finished 5th in the Farmer’s League and made 33 Appearances last time out.

Phil Jones – Please no. God no. It’s going to happen isn’t it? Everything points to disappointment in this windowand this would be the cherry on the cake. I don’t even want to write anything else here as I don’t want to speak it into existence.

Tammy Abraham – Interest was declared in the England International early on and was identified as the Number One Target in the Transfer Window. Abraham would be a solid choice after falling out of favour under Tuchel and respectable £34m would be enough to secure his services. The issue seems to be around contract talks and its expected Abraham would be after £120k+ per week to put him on par with the likes of Hudson-Odoi. At the moment, its looking increasingly likely that he will enter talks with AS Roma after Dzeko looks to move to Inter to replace Lukaku going to Chelsea. The domino effect.

Jesse Lingard – Currently suffering from COVID but hoping to force his way back in to the Man Utd Team. OGS looks set to give him a shot but the timing of catching COVID right before the start of the Season could allow others to cement positions in United’s starting XI. After splashing £110m+ on Sancho and Varane this window, United will surely look to sell some players to recoup the expenditure of the past two years. All West Ham Fans are hoping to see Lingard return after an impressive 6 Month Loan Spell.

Divock Origi – A very questionable inclusion of the list but nonetheless, he is a client of Will Salthouse and that means there is potential for him to move to the London Stadium. You just need to look at the list of previous arrivals to see how much DS likes dealing with Salthouse (Dawson, Benrahma, Antonio, Fredericks, Randolph, Creswell to name a few) and he even acts as a Negotiator on behalf of GSB to get a slice of the pay day and agents fees.

With a couple of days to go until the start of the Season, it looks certain that Moyes will be running the first half of the campaign with his hands tied behind his back. There are 30 games in all competitions between now and the start of the January Transfer Window and with a First Team Squad of 23 players (which includes 4 Goalkeepers and Winston Reid), West Ham’s European Tour will stretch the limits of the squad. 

Should we just go to bed now dg?