West Ham United set for key transfer week to seal brand new attacker at London Stadium
West Ham are set for a key week in the January transfer window in terms of understanding the situation around Ajax forward Steven Bergwijn, according to Dean Jones.
The former Eurosport journalist claimed that the Hammers will make a move for Bergwijn to see whether or not they can get it done, and if not they will move on quickly.
Jones also named Wilfried Gnonto and Jack Clarke as possible options if the deal for the Dutchman can’t be done, but suggested Ajax’s captain is their main focus as things stand.
Jones spoke to GIVEMESPORT [13 January] where he reported: “The thing is they are looking at quite a few players like this. Bergwijn is their big talking point at the moment. But there are other players in the background like Wilfried Gnonto and Jack Clarke, that they are continuing to consider.
“So it’s not a disaster if this Bergwijn one doesn’t work out. From what I understand, they set this week as a really key one in terms of actually understanding the situation around Bergwijn.
“They had been recommended him so highly, that they had to go for it and see whether it can happen and if not, they want to move on quickly.”
Moves need to be made quickly
Given the injury situation at the London Stadium, with Jarrod Bowen and Lucas Paqueta both suffering from injury blows while Mohammed Kudus is at the African Cup of Nations, time is not a luxury West Ham can afford with regard to reinforcements.
A deal for Bergwijn has cropped up as their number one target in January, and they will need to assess whether that deal can be done. With that now said to be happening in the next week, the wheels are finally being set in motion in East London.
Any one of Bergwijn, Clarke and Gnonto could come in and claim a starting place, and if not they would provide extremely strong challenges to Kudus, Bowen or Paqueta for their place in the team.
Healthy and strong competition is always required, but especially at a club with the ambitions of West Ham, as they want to progress in all competitions – the Europa League, FA Cup and Premier League – and to do that they will need effective replacements for injured players.
In other West Ham news, Grady Diangana has reacted to the latest transfer update.