West Ham United make deadline day exit decisions as Michail Antonio, Danny Ings, Ben Johnson and Aaron Cresswell linked
There will be “no further outbound sales” at West Ham before the transfer window closes on Friday night, according to 6 Foot 2.
The editor of the Hammers site reported via Twitter on deadline day (1 September) that “sources close to the club” expect nobody else to leave the club this summer, with the exit-linked quartet of Aaron Cresswell, Michail Antonio, Ben Johnson and Danny Ings all pictured.
The Hammers’ Premier League clash with Luton Town has complicated any exits before 11pm, and David Moyes has named all but Johnson in his match-day squad, with Maxwel Cornet and Pablo Fornals also included.
Declan Rice and Gianluca Scamacca are the major departures this summer but with a busy close to the window in both directions possible there were a host of others linked with moves.
Antonio has been key to the start of the season but had offers from Saudi Arabia, while Everton were linked to both Ings and Cornet to reunite with former Burnley boss Sean Dyche [TEAMtalk, 1 September].
Cresswell wanted to leave when Wolves were the potential takers, while Pablo Fornals was coveted back in La Liga, and Southampton were after a late deal for Johnson [Telegraph, 1 September].
Door shut?
With incoming deals proving much harder to come by than hoped on the final day it looks like further exits would leave the squad short.
The fact that Moyes has named so many of the players who might have moved in the squad for the trip to Kenilworth Road pretty much ended any reasonable possibilities for them to go anywhere.
In theory Johnson is free to travel for a potential medical if the option came up, but with only Konstantinos Mavropanos coming in defensively it seems unlikely that the manager would like to lose the 23-year-old’s versatility.
The incoming deals late in the window are a strong group and look to have filled the gap left by Rice well, although the heavy pursuit of a striker in the final days shows that the club would have liked to replace Scamacca properly.
The squad could potentially afford to lose some of the more peripheral names but injury crises are always liable to strike, so if numbers aren’t going to come in before the deadline then allowing others to leave would be a risk.
Overall it looks like Tim Steidten has helped to wrestle the transfer business back onto a positive standing but the final day might be a bit of a damp squib.
In other West Ham news, another deal is still on the cards once the deadline has passed amid an update from a club insider.