The transfer rumour mill has been whirring at West Ham and there have been claims that the club is working on two deals worth £37.5m.
Going into the January transfer window it seemed West Ham were keen to make one thing clear.
The Hammers hierarchy were adamant the club is close to its PSR limit regarding wages to turnover.
As a result West Ham have been focused on the loan market.
That then enables the club to negotiate loan deals with options or obligations to buy – thus kicking the can down the road on making moves permanent.
It also gives West Ham more time to offload players to stay within their PSR limit.
But then the Hammers go and make a £57m offer for Jhon Duran just to create utter confusion among the fanbase.
With Tim Steidten gone, majority owner David Sullivan is back in charge of transfer deals.
Kyle Macauley has been brought in for £1.2m from Chelsea to be West Ham’s new head of recruitment.
New boss Graham Potter drove that appointment and the pair have a great track record working together at the manager’s previous clubs.
Offloading players is going to be key for West Ham’s budget in the summer too it seems.
Especially if players are brought in on loan before the window closes with options or obligations to buy kicking in at the end of the season.
West Ham fans are angry the club is yet to make any signings this month.
Hammers fans getting restless over lack of signings
The Hammers knew they needed a new forward long before injuries to Michail Antonio, Niclas Fullkrug and Jarrod Bowen.
A powerful, young box-to-box midfielder is also sorely needed, especially given how Potter likes to play.
There is also an argument that West Ham could do with signing a new central defender too given Jean-Clair Todibo’s ongoing injury issues and the failure of Konstantinos Mavropanos to establish himself as a reliable Premier League player.
Speculation is intensifying around the striker situation as the clock ticks down on the window.
But the future of one particular Hammers star has also been in the spotlight.
Now the truth has emerged on two West Ham deals worth £37.5m from a key Sullivan ally.
After the bizarre failed bid for Duran, the Hammers have turned their attentions to Evan Ferguson and Brian Brobbey.
Truth on two West Ham deals worth £37.5m from Sullivan ally
Negotiations became protracted between the Hammers and Ajax, though.
West Ham admitted they were not convinced Brobbey could cut it in the Premier League.
As a result they only want an option to buy on their loan deal while the Dutch club want it to be a loan with obligation or permanent move.
Focus shifted to Ferguson and his relationship with Potter was said to be a big reason he would choose West Ham.
But West Ham revealed they face a big problem signing Ferguson last night.
Namely that they are competing with as many as 20 other clubs from across Europe.
In the meantime, it’s been claimed by a Dutch journalist that West Ham have a deal on the back-burner for Brobbey.
If moves for the likes of Ferguson don’t come off, then the Hammers will reportedly pledge to sign Brobbey on loan with an obligation to buy at £25m if he starts five of the club’s remaining Premier League games.
Senior West Ham source on Guilherme and Brobbey deals
Then came news from Fabrizio Romano of a move by Ukrainian side Shakhtar Donetsk to sign West Ham’s Brazilian teenager Luis Guilherme for around £12.5m.
Romano claims other clubs are also interested in Guilherme, who was signed from Palmeiras in the summer, and that the winger is ‘now expected to leave West Ham in the next days’.
So what’s the truth on those situations according to one man close to Sullivan?
Sean Whetstone has spoken to his top source inside West Ham about both deals.
The Sullivan confidant says his senior West Ham source told him Romano’s exclusive claim about a move by Shakthar to sign Guilherme is not true.
But he does not deny Guilherme could be sold with the Hammers open to a deal if they recover their original £19.5m outlay.
So what about the possibility of Brobbey being a late emergency signing for the Hammers?
Well according to Whetstone’s club sources, the chances of West Ham signing Brobbey have dropped from 99% all the way down to 10% in the last few days.
The sources claim recruitment staff at West Ham have doubts about the suitability of Brobbey for West Ham and Ajax’s insistence of a £25m obligation to buy is another blocker to a deal.
Although, as reported earlier, the player remains to be open to a move to West Ham and personal terms would not be an issue.
West Ham simply must pull their finger out and get a couple of deals over the line by Monday night.
Potter needs help and the fans need to be inspired that things are on the up again after a thoroughly dismal year.
West Ham teased that they are working on ‘several possible deals’ this week.
Let’s hope they make good on some of them as soon as possible.
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