WHZ View: Hammers cannot afford to not replace Haller after Moyes transfer admission
West Ham United manager David Moyes remained coy when quizzed on any potential replacement coming in for Sebastien Haller during the January window.
Speaking during his pre-match press conference, as reported by Jack Rosser, Moyes did not exactly confirm that the Hammers would be getting a replacement in: “We’ve created room that we can bring players in, are we ready for that? No, not really. But we’ll go along with that and bring in the right players.”
It was not exactly the confident answer you might expect or want to hear from a manager who has just offloaded one of the club’s big earners in a £20.5million deal.
The Hammers have been linked with the likes of Josh King and former Southampton forward Graziano Pelle as potential replacements for their former Frenchman.
West Ham can simply not afford not to replace Haller this month, given the troubled recent injury record of Michail Antonio.
The forward missed over a month of football after suffering a hamstring injury against Aston Villa back in November.
While he has been one of the Hammers’ key players this season, he has only scored three times in the Premier League and this team needs to find a consistent goalscorer.
The deal to sell Haller permanently for a reasonable fee was an opportunity they could not turn down – however, it may come back to bite the club if they do not act this month.
Not addressing the situation this month could derail what was a brilliant first half to the campaign if the Hammers find themselves short of options in the final third.
There have been previous concerns about how much money Moyes will have to work with at the London Stadium, but the deal to sell Haller gives him a sizeable cash injection to take this squad forward.
In other West Ham news, ‘Good move for both clubs’ – West Ham Super Fans react as Ajax officially sign Haller