The transfer window has been a real distraction for West Ham United’s season and rivals Tottenham Hotspur could be about to ruin Manuel Pellegrini’s best laid plans.
The Hammers have reached a fork in the road over their strikers.
Andy Carroll’s contract is up in the summer and he looks set to leave.
Marko Arnautovic has signed an improved contract after his on-off transfer saga to China.
Pellegrini at striker crossroads
And both Javier Hernandez and Lucas Perez have been linked with moves to La Liga with Valencia and Real Betis respectively.
Perez has been a flop since his move from Arsenal in the summer failing to establish himself despite West Ham’s Premier League-worst injury list.
And he is wanted by Real Betis as they mount a bid for European football (Evening Standard).
Clearing the decks up front and freeing up over £225,000 per week in wages is thought to be key to West Ham making any significant improvements before the window slams shut on Thursday.
Janssen could foil West Ham’s plan to offload Perez
But that could be put in jeopardy by Spurs. That’s after it emerged they are set to sell their own flop striker Vincent Janssen to Betis.
According to Sky Sports Betis have approached Tottenham with an offer.
Spurs signed Janssen from AZ Alkmaar on a four-year contract in 2016 for a fee understood to be £18.6m.
Hammers need to free up wages
They will take a big hit on that price if the Betis deal goes through.
West Ham should consider taking a lower offer for Perez just to get his £80,000 per week wages off the books (Spotrac).
The club were reportedly at their ceiling for wages after a £100 million summer transfer splurge.
As a result it is a necessity the East Londoners shed some of that salary.
Ironically Janssen was linked with West Ham last week, while Carroll was a reported target for Spurs (The Sun).
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