West Ham United must avoid repeating same mistake as Harry Maguire and Scott McTominay update emerges
The international break has provided a good opportunity for West Ham supporters to reflect on the transfer window, both in terms of incoming and outgoing activity.
The departure of Declan Rice was always expected but still hurt when his move to Arsenal was confirmed, while offloading Gianluca Scamacca could be considered good business.
There was also the exit of Manuel Lanzini, leaving plenty of holes to be filled in a squad that vastly underperformed in the Premier League last season – not that many cared all that much after the famous Europa Conference League triumph.
As the early weeks of the 2023-24 campaign have showed, Edson Alvarez and James Ward-Prowse are more than capable to enhancing West Ham’s central midfield, while Mohammed Kudus will provide some stardust up top and Konstantinos Mavropanos some defensive cover.
For all the talk of those new signings, though, two who didn’t make the switch to the London Stadium – and one in particular – are still being touted as potential future targets.
West Ham’s long-running pursuit of Harry Maguire came to an end late in the window after growing tired with how long it was taking to finalise a deal.
A move for Manchester United teammate Scott McTominay also fell through, with the Irons instead moving on to other targets.
The Manchester Evening News reported on Tuesday [13 September] that West Ham had separate £30million bids knocked back for the pair, both of whom are set to depart Old Trafford next summer as things stand.
However, West Ham should learn their lesson and forget about getting caught up in any further drawn-out sagas.
As talented as McTominay is, United look well stocked in that area of the field now, which is also the case in central defence.
That is not to say Maguire would not still be a big signing for David Moyes, but it is not worth the hassle of months of speculation, while in the meantime other targets are getting snapped up.
For while the most recent summer transfer window can be considered a successful one from West Ham’s perspective, it must be remembered just how frustrated supporters were for the first three-quarters of it.
Fingers crossed the Maguire saga in particular is not repeated in 2024.
In other West Ham news, the Hammers may consider rewarding Nayef Aguerd with a new contract amid the latest transfer development at London Stadium.