West Ham United focus on striker transfer as Harry Maguire loan also on cards – Sky Sports
West Ham are exploring a possible loan deal for Manchester United centre-back Harry Maguire, although no formal talks have taken place yet, according to Sky Sports.
The sports news outlet shared via their Transfer Centre website [28 August, 10:05] that the Hammers’ focus remains on bringing in a new striker for now as they are well-stocked at centre-back.
The news comes following a report from Fabrizio Romano via Kick streaming [27 August], where he shared that Maguire would now be open to a loan move after the idea was rejected earlier in the summer.
Getting their priorities in order
West Ham deciding to prioritise a move for a striker late in the window is the right decision, and those choices need to be made given there is less than a week before the transfer window closes on 1 September, so the club need to assess which positions they should fill first.
Following the arrival of Konstantinos Mavropanos, the Hammers are no longer in desperate need for a new defensive recruit, pushing a possible Maguire deal to the back of the line as they look to explore deals for new strikers.
The need for a new forward emerged earlier in the transfer window after Gianluca Scamacca made the move back to Italy, joining Atalanta, which left the Hammers with only Michail Antonio and Danny Ings as their two options up front, neither of whom can be relied on for a full season.
Competing in the Europa League also means that West Ham will have to be well-stocked in all positions, as they look to avoid an injury crisis coming from the increased fixture congestion that comes along with competing in European competitions.
In other West Ham news, the club are ready to double the wages of one star player.