West Ham United make ‘extremely rare’ transfer move in ‘desperate’ seven-man £140m search
West Ham have advertised for seven new signings on the website TransferRoom in their “increasingly desperate” transfer search, according to The Athletic.
The outlet reported on its website Friday (4 August) with the squad looking “thin” after a failure to sign any players this summer the Hammers have pitched for a left-back, a centre-back, two central midfielders, a striker, a winger and a number 10, with a budget listed at £20million for each player, although loans could also be on the cards.
TransferRoom is widely used within the industry but according to The Athletic it is “extremely rare” for Premier League sides to advertise on it.
West Ham have seen a host of pursuits grind to a halt so far this summer, after selling Declan Rice to Arsenal for £105m, with manager David Moyes and new technical director Tim Steidten at loggerheads over targets.
Desperate times
It looks to be a pretty damning indictment of the situation at the London Stadium that the Hammers have had to resort to this move.
But if it works then it will be a small price to pay to get the squad ready for the new season after an increasingly disastrous transfer window.
Replacing Rice is the top job that still needs doing, but with Gianluca Scamacca headlining a list of other players who could also leave in the next few weeks there are likely to be more gaps to fill.
More exits will only further weaken a squad that hugely underperformed in the Premier League last season, with the Europa Conference League win glossing over a relegation battle that almost cost the manager his job.
Unless there is a major breakthrough in terms of signings imminently Moyes might not remain in place much longer as it is, with either him, Steidten, or both possibly leaving.
By the looks of things there is money to spend, which there clearly should be after agreeing a club-record sale for the former captain, but while £20m will be enough to pick up a solid option in some of the necessary positions it is surely going to take significantly more to land the likes of a striker, a number 10, and the illusive Rice replacement.
Things aren’t looking great at the club right now, and if results to start the season are poor it is likely to only get worse.
In other West Ham news, the Hammers have approached a relegated side about signing their midfielder to fill the gap left by Rice.