Nuno Espirito Santo’s January overhaul of West Ham United is most certainly underway, but still a long way off completion.
Nuno was delighted to see Taty Castellanos and Pablo Felipe arrive within the first week of the transfer window. Thus, ensuring that West Ham United strengthened one of the weaker areas of their squad at the earliest possible opportunity, while also giving the former Lazio and Gil Vicente hotshots as much time as possible to get used to life in their new homes.
But with a fortnight remaining until the deadline in early-February, the Hammers still have problems to solve in central midfield, at centre-half, on the wing, and maybe even between the sticks.
No Upson, Ashton or Lucas Neil? 💰
Who are your Top 5 January signings at West Ham?
Speaking ahead of Saturday’s London derby clash away at Tottenham Hotspur, Nuno Espirito Santo talked up the importance of getting the winter window right.
Nuno Espirito Santo says West Ham United must get the January transfer window right
Reinforce successfully all across the pitch, and West Ham could go into the second half of the campaign with a far stronger spine and an influx of quality in numerous key areas.
But fail to land their targets, or spend heavily on the wrong ones, and Championship football will be the result.
“We are working on ins and outs,” Nuno said during a press conference on Thursday lunchtime. “I feel that we need to rebalance our squad, bring more options to some positions, and also find the best solutions for the players that are not having minutes to go [elsewhere].”
James Ward-Prowse is clearly not part of Nuno’s plans. He will be allowed to go. So too Callum Wilson, now their third-choice centre-forward following the additions of Castellanos and Felipe.
Speculation rages about Mads Hermansen’s future, too, amid reports that West Ham made a £10 million offer for Al-Nassr and Brazil goalkeeper Bento.
“We are working very hard as a club to find the right ones in what is a very tricky transfer window to operate,” adds Nuno. “So we have to make good decisions and we cannot afford mistakes.”
Ben Jacobs links Chelsea icon N’Golo Kante with the Hammers
Bento looks set to join Genoa in Italy. Other goalkeepers mentioned in the media over the last few days include James Trafford at Manchester City, Antonin Kinsky at Spurs, and Chelsea’s Filip Jorgensen.
West Ham reportedly made a bid for Alpha Toure, the young FC Metz midfielder. A physically-dominant centre-half is also a must, with the veteran trio of Eric Dier, Ethan Pinnock and Jamaal Lascelles allegedly joining young bucks Charlie Cresswell, Roggerio Nyakossi and Tiago Gabriel on their wishlist.
N’Golo Kante has been linked with West Ham…😍
How can Nuno get the best out of him?
And, right out of the blue, West Ham were linked with a shock move for N’Golo Kante, the France and Chelsea legend, via reporter Ben Jacobs on Friday.
Kante is still expected to join Fenerbahce, though, after a couple of seasons in Saudi Arabia with Al-Ittihad.
“Kante wants the move. Fenerbahce are the frontrunners, even though I’m told West Ham also made another enquiry in the last 48 hours. Fenerbahce are leading the race,” Jacobs says.
“They’re confident that they’ve got the buy-in from the player, but they’ve still got some work to do with Al Ittihad.”
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