West Ham United: Michail Antonio makes admission on January transfer business at London Stadium
Michail Antonio has given his “honest” assessment of the transfer business that can be expected at West Ham in the January window.
The Irons have already been linked with numerous players since the window opened on 1 January, while others have been tipped to depart London Stadium.
After a large outlay in the summer on James Ward-Prowse, Edson Alvarez, Mohammed Kudus and Dinos Mavropanos, offset by the departure of Declan Rice, Antonio cannot see any area in obvious need of strengthening.
“To be honest, it’s a difficult one because the team’s doing so well,” he said on the BBC’s Footballer’s Football Podcast [5 January].
“Where would you want to bring someone in? We have so many midfielders and attacking players, we have bought some quality at the back.
“The difference between us and the other teams in the top six is they’ve got so much quality coming off the bench, so it’s always to add more competition to what we have.
“I honestly couldn’t tell you in which positions we need to strengthen because of how well we’re doing. It will always be good to have more.”
Next step forward
Antonio has a point in that West Ham have a very strong starting line-up right now, and the club’s record all-time Premier League scorer will struggle to regain his spot once back to fitness.
Indeed, it is no great surprise that United are sixth in the Premier League right now based on the quality of their players.
As Antonio eludes to, though, it would be great to have even more depth on the substitutes’ bench if United are to take the next step forward.
Moyes made just one substitution in the 0-0 draw with Brighton and Hove Albion in midweek – Divin Mubama coming on in the second half for Said Benrahma.
The squad was somewhat depleted by injuries and international call-ups, granted, but the back-ups available to Moyes were far from ideal.
If just one more top-quality player can be brought in this month, the Irons will have a squad capable of challenging for Europa League glory while remaining competitive domestically.
In other West Ham news, the Hammers’ stance has been shared as multiple clubs reportedly target a player.