West Ham have been linked with Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain

West Ham United to offload duo for Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain swoop ahead of Brentford

George is a sportswriter and editor with degrees in Sports Journalism (MA) from the University of Brighton – and Politics (BSc) from the University of Southampton. Sport was his first love at a young age, although football tests that sometimes. Also particularly interested in the women’s game and the NFL.

Published on:

27 Aug 2024, 2:40 am

West Ham are eyeing a late move to sign Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain before the close of the transfer window, TBR Football reports.

According to the outlet's website on 26 August the Hammers are interested in taking advantage of the financial situation at Besiktas and the former Arsenal and Liverpool man's desire to return to England to complete another signing ahead of the deadline.

Both James Ward-Prowse and Tomas Soucek could be offloaded and moving the duo on will make room for the ex-England international, having already recruited heavily.

West Ham aren't alone however, with Brentford and Crystal Palace also among those "plotting" a move, as are Wolves and Nottingham Forest.

Tomas Soucek and James Ward-Prowse could leave West Ham

Oxlade-Chamberlain may somehow still only be 31 but might be a late move the Irons don't actually need to make.

He hasn't got that many miles in his legs in recent years, with just 89 games in total for Liverpool and Besiktas over the past four seasons, and at his best is undoubtedly a dynamic player.

But he also suffered from miserable injury luck in the latter years of his Anfield career, and with Carlos Soler lined up to come in from Paris Saint-Germain once space is made [The Times, 26 August] it may be overkill to squeeze the Ox in as well.

James Ward-Prowse joined West Ham in 2023 after over 400 games for Southampton.

Soucek is synonymous with the David Moyes era, and although Ward-Prowse only arrived from Southampton a year ago he also fit the Scot's preferred profile, so there have been doubts over their futures since Julen Lopetegui came in.

If there are offers then most of the squad that the Spaniard inherited is available for the right price, but Soucek has proven to be the great survivor of recent seasons and scored in the win at Crystal Palace.

Both will have their uses if they stay but it looks like Tim Steidten is going to be searching for deals in both directions right up until the deadline.

In other West Ham news, the club have agreed an exit deal for one senior ace and a second is wanted by a club full of big-name stars.

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