West Ham United boss David Moyes has delivered his verdict on each of the club’s four summer signings.
It was slow going at West Ham for most of the window. So much so that only goalkeeper Alphonse Areola had been signed – on loan with an £11 million option to buy – in the first 80 days of the 84-day transfer window.
A large section of West Ham fans had vented their frustrations over a lack of new arrivals at co-owners David Sullivan and David Gold during that quiet two and a half months.
But West Ham ended up doing 75% of their business in the final four days as Kurt Zouma, Nikola Vlasic and Alex Kral joined to seriously beef up Moyes’s exciting young squad.
The Scot had been calm when pressed on transfers all the way through the window.
And Moyes seems happy to have added quality over quantity and – most importantly – players of HIS choosing after running the rule over each of West Ham’s new arrivals on the club’s official website.
Here’s what Moyes thinks of each of his new boys and what they bring to West Ham.
‘He has played at the highest level’ – Moyes on Alphonse Areola
“Alphonse is an experienced and talented goalkeeper who has played at the highest level and performed very well in the Premier League last season,” Moyes told whufc.com.
“As we prepare for a very busy schedule, he will provide fantastic competition for the goalkeepers already at the football club and we are going to need to use our squad to ensure compete to the best of our abilities across all competitions.
“We have been aware of his qualities for a long time and we have no doubt he will be another player and character who will enhance our squad.”
‘Strong, powerful and always my first choice’ – Moyes on Kurt Zouma
“Kurt is a player we have tracked for some time, and we have taken great care and diligence to make the transfer happen,” Moyes said.
“He was always our first choice and I am very happy that he is now our player. Kurt will join a squad full of players who are hungry and ambitious. He will provide competition to our squad. He is a strong, powerful player with great experience in the Premier League while he is also at a good age for a centre-back.
“Kurt has enjoyed great success at Chelsea and I can see that he is determined to continue being successful here at the London Stadium.”
‘Hungry and ambitious, I was really impressed’ – Moyes on Nikola Vlasic
Moyes added: “I have been watching him improve over recent seasons – he has got a good goals and assists record during that time. He is also a Croatia international with experience and still being only 23, I feel there is more to come from him.
“I was really impressed with how determined Nikola was to become a West Ham player. It’s that hunger and ambition that fits with what we are trying to build here at the club.”
‘Good competition and potential’ – Moyes on Alex Kral
“He will provide good competition in the centre of midfield,” the Hammers boss told West Ham’s website.
“He is another young, talented player who we feel has a big potential and will be capable of adapting to the demands of the Premier League.
“We’ve brought him in on loan initially and, hopefully, over the course of the season he will make a valuable contribution, particularly with our busier schedule of fixtures. Alex is another established international player with the Czech Republic, and we hope he has similar characteristics and hunger to that of Tomáš and Vladimír.”
Moyes does not touch on the club’s failure to bring a striker into the club before the window closed.
But no doubt he has a plan on how to set West Ham up in a different way when Michail Antonio does not play.
The Hammers spent £63.3m. And they will need to commit around another £26m if they choose to make Kral and Areola’s moves permanent.
Perhaps West Ham’s best bit of business in the summer, though, was holding on to star men such as Declan Rice, Tomas Soucek, Vladimir Coufal and Jarrod Bowen amid reported interest from elsewhere.
In other news, ‘UEFA will fine him’ West Ham star Rice drinks the boos with brilliant England celebration.
And David Moyes has surely found game-changing solution to major West Ham problem.