West Ham United head coach Julen Lopetegui has been a man on a mission in the transfer market this summer.
Julen Lopetegui arrived at the London Stadium in July, and has already made his presence felt in charge of West Ham, overseeing eight brilliant new signings.
The Hammers boss has recently been talking up the need for even more signings, despite having brought in eight new players already.
However, his main priority will be to move on some of the deadwood before the summer transfer window slams shut.
There are plenty of players who need to be moved on over the course of the next week – preferably some of the big earners like Kurt Zouma and Danny Ings.
That will be easier said than done of course, due to their enormous salaries. However, the West Ham transfer team act in a ruthless manner now, and I’d be shocked if we don’t see two or three first-team players leave the club this summer, as a bare minimum.
Lopetegui has spoken to the media about potential incomings and outgoings over the next seven days, and his response to one question in particular will be music to the Hammers fans’ ears.
Julen Lopetegui drops West Ham transfer hint
The Hammers squad is now completely unrecognisable from the one that Lopetegui inherited from David Moyes.
We actually have a strong group of players now who should be genuinely capable of finishing inside the top six or seven.
Moyes was renowned for preferring a small squad, and that always came back to bite us during the latter stages of campaigns.
Lopetegui is quite clearly a lot different to Moyes in how he likes to build his squad, and he’s not done yet it seems.
The Spaniard spoke about potential transfer activity during the final week of the window in his press-conference on Thursday, as quoted by WHUFC.com.
“In this time before the market closes, for everyone it’s still not certain who might come and go. We have to adapt, but the competition is tough. We’ve tried to adapt with the new players, and we have to balance everything and try to be competitive,“ Lopetegui said.
The Spaniard continued, “My focus is on the players who are here. They all have to be ready, and that’s all we’re thinking about. We don’t want to talk about players who aren’t here, although it’s true that anything can happen.“
Great to hear from Lopetegui
That’s hugely encouraging if you ask me.
He made it very clear that there could be more comings and goings before the window slams shut this time next week.
Hopefully the Hammers chief will manage to move on the likes of Kurt Zouma, Danny Ings and Maxwel Cornet within the next week.
That will free up the funds needed to complete the signing of Carlos Soler, and will also enable him to bring in another player potentially.
West Ham have already enjoyed a magnificent transfer window, but Julen Lopetegui is clearly not finished just yet.
With the addition of one or two more players, we could be a real powerhouse in the Premier League this season.
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