West Ham are about to complete their eighth signing of a dizzyingly good summer transfer window but another three could follow.
Aaron Wan-Bissaka will be announced as West Ham’s latest capture on Tuesday.
But the Hammers are not done yet in this stunning window, now being regarded as the club’s best ever.
On paper at least.
After some last ditch delays, Wan-Bissaka is said to have completed his medical and signed a long-term deal as West Ham’s new first choice right-back.
At the outset of the window, it was made clear West Ham wanted at least eight signings this summer.
It was needed too.
David Moyes, by his own admission, preferred to work with a small squad at West Ham.
Moyes also allowed the average age of the Hammers squad to creep up.
That left Julen Lopetegui with the Premier League’s smallest and second oldest collection of players.
So a major rebuild was required. And West Ham – with technical director Tim Steidten pulling the strings – have put a capital M into Major.
Ambitious West Ham could take signings tally to 10 or 11
Brazilian teen sensation Luis Guilherme was the first in for £20m from Palmeiras.
Wes Foderingham on a free solved West Ham’s issue of a lack of experience in depth in the goalkeeping department.
The Hammers then splashed £40m to take captain Max Kilman from Wolves.
A lull in activity saw Steidten’s credentials questioned. But the German responded in some style.
Championship player of the season Crysencio Summerville arrived in a £26m move followed closely by Germany striker Niclas Fullkrug for £23.5m.
A day later Argentinian World Cup winning midfielder Guido Rodriguez was signed on a free.
But the best was yet to come.
West Ham sealed one of the coups of the summer when French defender Jean-Clair Todibo sensationally ditched Juventus to put the club in seventh heaven when it comes to signings.
Wan-Bissaka will be unveiled as West Ham’s eighth addition imminently.
And reports claim they’re not done there either.
Ambitious West Ham could take their signings tally to 10 or 11 if three can be offloaded.
Hammers must offload three to facilitate further arrivals
The top spokesman inside the club has already told Hammers News that West Ham are in talks over several signings because ‘we still need a few more’.
Todibo and Wan-Bissaka were two of those.
But West Ham could also sign a second younger and pacy forward, another midfielder and a defender who can play at centre-back and full-back.
That would take the grand total of signings to 11.
The club will have to be sure they can offload three current players first, though.
Tomas Soucek, Vladimir Coufal, James Ward-Prowse, Michail Antonio, Danny Ings, Maxwel Cornet, Nayef Aguerd and Konstantinos Mavropanos have all been linked with potential moves away from West Ham.
The club need to offload three of those – in addition to hopefully pushing through Kurt Zouma’s exit – in order to get further new signings in the door, though.
Soucek and Coufal have interest from Turkey.
Ward-Prowse has been linked with his old club Southampton but is the most likely to be retained due to his set piece weapon.
Antonio has already made it clear he doesn’t want to be a back-up striker, despite turning 35 next season.
Big earner Ings has snubbed moves to the likes of Southampton. But he may change his mind on a move if it becomes clear the Hammers are going to sign a second new forward.
Cornet will be tough to offload. He has barely kicked a ball for two years and the best West Ham will be able to hope for is a loan with option deal.
Nayef Aguerd is wanted by several clubs and wants to leave. But the Moroccan is not making selling him easy as he has turned down moves to a number of interested clubs. Sides in Spain, Saudi and France are said to be interested in Aguerd.
Mavropanos will only be sold if West Ham can recoup the £17.5m they paid for him.
The big Greek has all the ingredients to be a Hammers cult hero and a top Premier League defender.
But he has proved error-prone and erratic in his decision-making.
West Ham needed a confident, dominant partner for Max Kilman, hence signing Todibo.
Mavropanos is currently first choice back-up but if West Ham can sign a centre-back who can also play right-back or left-back then he will be allowed to depart for the right price.
Hammers targets before window closes
So who could come in?
Many believe a late loan with obligation move for Villa striker Jhon Duran could yet be agreed.
After weeks of talks reached stalemate, West Ham turned their attentions to Fullkrug. But the soon-to-be 32-year-old lacks pace – by his own admission – and the Hammers are exploring options.
Samu Omorodion could be one of those in a similar loan with obligation move after his transfer to Chelsea collapsed.
There was talk Chelsea were going to immediately loan Omorodion to West Ham.
Spanish midfielder Carlos Soler of PSG remains a target but West Ham would have to raise over £20m from sales to make that happen.
Another Spaniard, Arnau Martinez, is one of the versatile defenders West Ham are looking at if Coufal and/or Aguerd or Mavropanos leave. The young Girona star can play centre-back and right-back and has been speaking regularly to Lopetegui about a move.
Marc Pubill, another Spanish full-back who has been linked with West Ham, has just seen a move to Atalanta collapse.
Chelsea’s Trevoh Chalobah is a further versatile defender on West Ham’s radar.
West Ham fans who thought the window could not get much better, may need to brace themselves for more excitement in the next two and a half weeks.
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