West Ham United set for ‘Limited’ budget for striker in January amid FFP fears
West Ham United will have a “limited” budget to sign a new striker in the January window amid FFP fears, according to the Evening Standard.
Writing on their website (21 November), the news outlet report that the club are keen to sign a new striker in January after Michail Antonio suffered a knee injury on international duty.
But David Moyes will only have a limited budget to work with to find a new forward for his squad, with all their transfer activity being monitored closely by the Premier League after they were placed on a UEFA watchlist last year.
“As a result [of Antonio’s injury], the club will look to go back into the market when the transfer window opens in the New Year, but are wary of breaching financial rules after successive summers of heavy spending, albeit this year’s will be largely offset by the £105million sale of Declan Rice to Arsenal,” they wrote.
“The Irons were added to UEFA’s FFP watchlist in September last year as the governing body prepared to phase out the additional leeway it offered to clubs during the Covid pandemic.
“At the time, the club remained confident of complying with Uefa rules but any transfer activity continues to be monitored closely and Standard Sport understands that funds for a striker in January will be limited as a result.”
Interesting
The club surely eased most of their FFP concerns with the sale of Declan Rice to Arsenal for £105, with that going down as pure profit since he was an academy graduate.
West Ham are also likely to let players leave in January with Danny Ings clearly not in David Moyes’ plans anymore, Divin Mubama wanted by Watford as his contract runs down, Ben Johnson likely to leave and interest from Saudi Arabia in Kurt Zouma and Nayef Aguerd.
All of that will also help the club be able to spend more in the transfer window, but they have spent big in the recent transfer windows and that could surely come into play.
But with links to the likes of Santiago Gimenez, Armando Broja and Serhou Guirassy, they aren’t cheap deals and something will have to give.
It’ll be interesting to watch because we clearly need a new striker after selling Gianluca Scamacca in the summer, so keep an eye on potential incomings.
In other West Ham news, Premier League striker wanted at London Stadium as asking price emerges.