Sean Whetstone has lifted the lid on how West Ham intend to sign a striker in the January window despite the threat of UEFA sanctions.
West Ham look to have finally been forced into submission over the club’s lack of quality depth in the striker department.
The Hammers appear to be set to go into the market for a new forward in the January transfer window.
If any doubt remained that West Ham boss David Moyes should have signed a striker in the summer then it had surely been put to bed over the last month or two.
Moyes insisted he had enough in Michail Antonio and Jarrod Bowen as striker options following the sale of Gianluca Scamacca.
Both have picked up knee injuries on international duty and face spells on the sidelines.
West Ham were linked with no less than SEVEN striker signings in 48 hours over the weekend.
And reports overnight claim the Hammers are readying two £30m bids for forwards with AFCON also set to deny Moyes of Mohammed Kudus, Said Benrahma and Maxwel Cornet between January and February.
The problem is West Ham were placed on UEFA’s Financial Fair Play watchlist and reports had claimed that would hinder the club’s ability to bring in a new striker.
But now a source close to West Ham majority owner David Sullivan and vice-chair Karren Brady has reassured fans.
Sean Whetstone has lifted the lid on how West Ham intend to sign a striker in the January window despite that UEFA threat.
Selling non-key squad players will go towards funding a move for a forward. And with the owners prepared to guarantee cover for any losses within the new £25m FFP limit, West Ham can avoid any sanctions from UEFA.
“West Ham have not set a transfer budget for January and will instead rely on selling fringe players to fund a striker purchase,” Whetstone said.
“Despite making a £17m profit on paper the Hammers overspent in the summer of 2022 in anticipation of the sale of Declan Rice and COVID impact resulting them landing on an UEFA watchlist for FFP.
“UEFA permits football clubs to spend no more than €5million (£3.9m) over what they earn in each three-year assessment period.
“There is, however, a new limit of 30 million Euros (£25m) (previously 45 million euros) if the owners of the club or a related party can cover these losses.”
So while West Ham do have to cut their cloth carefully to avoid UEFA action, the club can and will sign a striker by raising funds.
The likes of Thilo Kehrer, Mawel Cornet, Danny Ings, Ben Johnson and Pablo Fornals could be sold to raise vital cash.
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