West Ham have confirmed who is actually calling the shots behind the scenes on the club’s January transfer business, Hammers News can reveal.
The January transfer window opens three weeks from today and West Ham simply cannot afford to get it wrong.
The Hammers are in desperate need of players in key positions, with the club confirming a striker is the priority for Nuno Espirito Santo.
That is hardly surprising given wantaway flop Niclas Fullkrug is set to be shipped out, leaving ageing and historically injury-prone Callum Wilson as Nuno’s only realistic and senior option.
West Ham are also a Jarrod Bowen or Crysencio Summerville injury away from almost certain relegation given their lack of alternatives and quality in depth.
Striker and Traore are Nuno’s top targets for West Ham
That is why Nuno has made signing his former winger Adama Traore a top priority too.
The muscle-bound Spaniard has played some of his best football under Nuno, who wants to utilise his pace to complement his counter-attacking style.
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Hammers News was first to reveal West Ham were likely to sign Traore as soon as Nuno put pen to paper on his three-year contract to replace the hapless Graham Potter.
West Ham have their kindest run of fixtures after Christmas with six of their eight matches seen as winnable.
So it is vital the Hammers have their ducks in a row in terms of January signings.
The last thing West Ham can afford is to be bringing players in on deadline day at the start of February with a massive, decisive chunk of the season gone.
When Nuno was in talks with West Ham about joining, a top journalist claimed he wanted reassurances his close ally and agent Jorge Mendes would have an influence over transfers.
Nuno fell out with Forest chief Evangelos Marinakis after he brought in Edu to oversee transfers, moving away from Mendes and the manager.
It was claimed Hammers chief David Sullivan agreed to allow Mendes a say on West Ham’s transfers.
There has been mixed emotions among fans at the prospect of the famous Portuguese agent being involved in West Ham’s recruitment.
Mendes runs the Gestifute agency, which boasts some of the top talents in world football.
West Ham confirm who is calling the shots on January transfers
Three exciting Mendes clients look ideal for West Ham in January as Nuno looks to save the club’s season.
However, some supporters feel the club must move away from the agent-led approach, something that has been on the cards after Sullivan reduced the influence of Will Salthouse at West Ham.
Now West Ham have confirmed who is calling the shots on January transfers and the club has made its Mendes position clear.
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The update draws a firm line under who is in charge of what and offers a clearer picture of how the Hammers intend to operate as the window approaches.
And it is fair to say West Ham fans will be very pleased.
When David Moyes was manager he had power of veto on all transfers written into his contract.
It was one of the reasons he clashed so much with Tim Steidten, the flop technical director appointed in Moyes’ final season at the Hammers helm.
Hammers make Jorge Mendes position clear
When Steidten was shown the door last January after wasting much of a £155m budget he was handed in his only window in full control of West Ham’s recruitment, David Sullivan reprised his role as the club’s de facto director of football.
Potter pushed to be reunited with Kyle Macaulay and he was brought in from Chelsea as the club’s new head of recruitment.
He was shown the door along with Potter when Nuno arrived and has not been replaced.
That has left supporters scratching their heads about who is in charge of identifying targets and making signings this January.
Hammers News put the important question to the top spokesman for West Ham’s owners this week.
And the response is very interesting indeed.
The West Ham board has now confirmed it will be the manager Nuno – like Moyes – who is in charge of transfers in a refreshing return to some sort of normality.
West Ham have also confirmed the club’s impressive scouting department, including the highly regarded Max Hahn, will also have a big say.
One man who is not involved in West Ham’s transfer business, though, is Mendes.
The Hammers have confirmed the super-agent will not have a say.
Whether that goes against any agreement prior to Nuno signing up as West Ham boss remains to be seen.
Nuno and scouts in control of West Ham transfers
“Nuno will be in charge of transfers, not Mendes,” the top spokesman for West Ham’s owners exclusively told Hammers News.
“But so is our scouting department too.”
Hahn is believed to be the man who scouted and pushed for the moves to sign both El Hadji Malick Diouf and Soungoutou Magassa in the summer.
It is also claimed Hahn was a big advocate of paying the money to get Mateus Fernandes in the door at West Ham.
Hahn also had a hand in identifying Mohamadou Kante as a signing, with the Hammers landing the young French powerhouse midfielder for just £500k.
All four look excellent additions and are great value for money.
So West Ham will hope that theme continues into January where every day counts in the battle to survive.
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