West Ham United backed for ‘aggressive and ambitious’ transfer pursuits amid Ousmane Dembele opportunity
West Ham have been backed to continue being “aggressive and ambitious” in the transfer market with a possible Ousmane Dembele move on the cards, by Paul Brown.
The former Daily Star journalist spoke to GIVEMESPORT (2 October) to predict that the Hammers will still be looking to strengthen significantly over the next couple of windows, with the door potentially open to sign the recent Paris Saint-Germain arrival from Barcelona.
The Mirror reported on 24 September that the French winger was in the sights of the Irons, as well as Tottenham and Arsenal, having “failed to find his feet” with the Ligue 1 giants.
Brown said: “That might open the door to a team like West Ham in January or in the summer, we’ll see. I do think West Ham are still quite ambitious in the transfer market.
“Everyone knew they had the money from the Declan Rice deal to spend. They’re not a club that makes a huge amount of money so they do have to be careful when it comes to FFP, but I do think you’ll see West Ham continue to try and be aggressive and ambitious in the transfer market over the next couple of windows.”
Big name, big risk?
While it should be encouraging for West Ham supporters that the club is actively looking to keep strengthening there have to be significant questions over whether Dembele would be the right target.
The chances of him moving on already seem relatively low unless he absolutely craters in Paris, in which case he would surely be far less attractive for the Irons.
Given how David Moyes seems to take an age to be convinced by skilful attacking arrivals at the best of times the idea of Dembele arriving at the London Stadium brings with it visions of him languishing miserably on the bench anyway.
Undoubtedly a wonderful talent the 26-year-old’s career has never seemed to stabilise since his £135million move to the Camp Nou in 2017 [Sky Sports], with injuries a major issue.
On his day he would certainly be an asset at West Ham but for a player that would surely be an expensive prospect he doesn’t feel like a realistic choice.
A younger potential star without the same fitness record has already been brought in this summer in Mohammed Kudus, and fans would surely like to see more of him sooner rather than later with just four late substitute appearances in the Premier League so far.
And either way an out and out striker is surely where the ambition and aggression in the market should be channelled next.
In other West Ham news, a major move in the opposite direction has instead been tipped by a Sky Sports pundit, with the club set for a “fight”.