West Ham manager Julen Lopetegui seemingly has a cunning plan in place to use one of our incredibly talented youngsters in a brand new position.
Unfortunately for the Hammers fans though, that could be very news indeed when it comes to one summer transfer in particular.
A few weeks ago, it was claimed by a top Hammers source that Julen Lopetegui was keen to get the majority of his transfer business wrapped up before our pre-season clash with Dagenham and Redbridge on July 20th.
However, the West Ham head coach has only made three signings so far this summer. He needs to make at least another three or four new additions, if he’s to take us to another level.
The Hammers’ need for a new striker, a left winger and a central midfielder has been well-documented this summer.
In addition to that, it could be argued that Lopetegui needs to bring another centre-back to the London Stadium as a matter of urgency as well.
However, such was the state of the unbalanced and ageing squad left behind by David Moyes, the new Hammers chief needs to look at bolstering pretty much every single area of his squad, except for the right wing department.
Now though, I think we all need to temper our expectations when it comes to strengthening one of those positions…
Cunning Julen Lopetegui plan a terrible transfer omen for West Ham
Lopetegui bringing in a replacement, or more specifically an upgrade, on Vladimir Coufal will be crucial to his hopes of taking us to another level.
The 31-year-old has been a fine, reliable performer for the Hammers over the past three-and-a-half years.
However I don’t personally feel as though he’s good enough to be playing for a team with aspirations of finishing inside the top seven in the Premier League table.
Signing a top-class new right-back this summer should be a key priority for the West Ham head coach in my opinion.
Manchester United star Aaron Wan-Bissaka is reportedly a key transfer target for the Hammers.
That said, I feel like Lopetegui has already dropped a big hint that we might have to make do with Coufal as a regular starter for another season.
The Spaniard started Gideon Kodua as a right-back during our first pre-season friendly game of the summer against Ferencvaros on Monday.
The 19-year-old is an attacker by trade. He can play anywhere along the front-line, but has operated in midfield as well at times.
He never played at right-back until Lopetegui started him there on Monday. I’m really hoping that that doesn’t mean the Spaniard’s won’t be signing a new right-back this summer.
As far as I’m concerned, Julen Lopetegui will not be able to guide West Ham back to the European spots with Coufal as his starting right-back.
The fact that Kodua was used in that specific position earlier this week is a really bad omen for our transfer hopes this summer in my opinion.
Only time will tell as to whether I was right to be concerned.
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