West Ham's failure to land Matt Targett proves what Nuno Espirito Santo will have feared most

West Ham look set to miss out on signing Matt Targett as Hull City close in on a deal for the out-of-contract left-back.

Targett, 30, has been a free agent since the end of last season after his contract at Newcastle expired.

The former Southampton and Aston Villa man spent the 2025-26 campaign on loan at Middlesbrough, proving himself to be more than good enough for playing a key role in a Championship promotion bid.

West Ham Zone covered claims earlier this month that West Ham had Targett in their sights. However, a deal is now all but done for the experienced left-back to join newly-promoted Hull.

El Hadji Malick Diouf and Ollie Scarles are the only outright left-back options Nuno Espirito Santo has in his Hammers squad ahead of the new Championship season kicking off in just a few weeks' time.

And this latest setback in the bid to sign Targett shows just why the coming weeks might be as difficult as Nuno might have feared.

Where it's all going wrong for West Ham

It was always going to be a testing summer transfer window at the London Stadium after West Ham were relegated to the Championship.

Nuno hasn't managed to sign anyone since that big red R was slapped next to West Ham's name in the Premier League table, while Mateus Fernandes, Callum Wilson, Lukas Fabianski and Adama Traore have all moved on.

Jarrod Bowen has, at least, committed his short-term future to the Irons, which is a huge boost, but Hull beating the Hammers to Targett's signature has truly brought the London club back down to terra firma.

As per the Daily Mail on Monday, Hull are close to signing the 30-year-old, who'd been a target for both West Ham and Norwich.

It is understood that he's due to undergo a medical before signing a two-year deal on Humberside and linking up with the Tigers' pre-season training camp in Slovenia.

Quite simply, Hull have beaten West Ham to the punch due to their league status - and that's not something that should really be happening.

What can West Ham do to fix this mess?

Bowen committing himself to West Ham for the upcoming season is a huge boost and that alone can serve as a reason for some players to join the Irons this summer.

However, the best thing the Hammers can do right now is either start to sell off more stars like Fernandes so they have the money to buy replacements and offer big enough wages that can't be turned down.

Or, they need to stand firm and issue a 'not for sale' message regarding their top stars.

For example, if Diouf isn't sold - do West Ham really need to sign a player like Targett?

Realistically, players like the Senegal star will have to leave because of the potentially-catastrophic financial implications of keeping players like that and not winning instant promotion back.

But either way, it's time for West Ham to start making more moves, otherwise they risk missing out on more deals like this one.