David Moyes admits he was left absolutely baffled by what happened at West Ham during the transfer window.
West Ham have been winning almost universal praise for the business they did during the summer transfer window.
But it was not all that long ago the Hammers were facing scrutiny and ridicule over the club’s structure and recruitment following the £105m sale of Declan Rice.
Fans, pundits and even Domino’s Pizza mocked West Ham for their inability to sign players in the immediate aftermath of Rice’s sale to the Gunners.
That was attributed to a difficult initial relationship between David Moyes and new technical director Tim Steidten.
Hammers fans had grave concerns over club’s slow window progress against a backdrop of uncertainty
That was exclusively confirmed to Hammers News by a top club source amid claims that Steidten might walk less than a month into the job back in July.
Journalists were piling on and pundits were predicting a season of struggle ahead.
Even a West Ham board insider described the situation as “a complete mess” at one stage.
It was abundantly clear from the moment the highly-rated and coveted German, nicknamed ‘the pearl diver’, arrived at West Ham that he had a very different recruitment philosophy and list of targets to manager Moyes.
The Scot has admitted as much since, saying Steidten arrived with a list of targets but that he had told the former Bayer Leverkusen man players need to have certain attributes for the Premier League.
Here on Hammers News we described the situation being reported as a transfer circus and called for Moyes to relinquish the power of veto on transfers or be more open to compromise with Steidten.
Fans were understandably gravely concerned and grew increasingly frustrated as West Ham took until August 10th – two days before the start of the new season – before they made their first signing.
David Moyes admits he was left absolutely baffled by what happened at West Ham during the transfer window
It may have taken time, but West Ham have impressed fans and observers with that acquisition of Edson Alvarez as well as James Ward-Prowse as Rice’s replacements. And European experts have raved about the business done in getting defender Konstantinos Mavropanos and exciting £38m attacker Mohammed Kudus too.
The Hammers are sitting pretty in the top four going into their fifth game of the season and are unbeaten.
Jarrod Bowen is up for player of the month and goal of the month with Alphonse Areola nominated for save of the month.
And Moyes has been nominated for the Premier League’s manager of the month gong.
So Moyes can be excused for asking ‘what was all the fuss about’ after the summer panic up around West Ham’s transfer dealings.
And that’s exactly what he has done.
Because Moyes admits he was left absolutely baffled by what happened at West Ham during the transfer window.
‘What was all the fuss about’ asks Moyes
The Scot said he was taken aback by the amount of negativity around the club’s transfer window after returning having lifted the club’s first trophy in 43 years.
“Yes, I was surprised at the level of outside negativity when we came back to pre-season,” Moyes told The Evening Standard.
“I couldn’t quite understand it. Okay, we hadn’t made any signings, but it wasn’t for the want of trying.
“The fact is the club made good offers for a number of players, but we were getting knocked back in the early part of the transfer window. I just felt I was under pressure right away.”
The continued uncertainty surrounding Moyes’ position and the appointment of Steidten – combined with the very slow progress on deals until the signing of Alvarez and Rice’s departure – made for a perfect media storm in many ways.
But Moyes has once again steered the club into calm waters.
Long may it continue.