West Ham are close to making their fourth and fifth signings of the January transfer window in quick succession from two London rivals but Nuno Espirito Santo wants even more.
The Hammers look set for a busy final week of the January transfer window as Nuno Espirito Santo pushes the owners to improve his squad.
West Ham have given themselves renewed hope of Premier League survival with back-to-back wins over Spurs and Sunderland.
In fact there is rarefied air around east London because those victories made it three on the bounce in all competitions following a 2-1 triumph over QPR in the FA Cup.
It is no coincidence it has come after West Ham attacked the January window from the get go, spending £47m on new strike duo Pablo and Taty Castellanos within 48 hours of the market officially opening.
Hammers set for busy final week of window
Exciting but little known winger Keiber Lamadrid was signed last week on loan with an option to buy.
West Ham’s owners described Lamadrid as a ‘lottery ticket’ signing.
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Nuno made it clear Lamadrid was a board signing when he faced the media in the wake of the 22-year-old Venezulan’s arrival.
The Portuguese said he understood the club bringing in ‘players for the future’ but made it clear he needed signings ‘who can help the team now’.
Now West Ham are closing in on a double signing from London rivals and Nuno wants more.
One player Nuno feels can hit the ground running with the Hammers is Adama Traore.
Hammers News was the first to exclusively reveal West Ham planned to sign Traore for Nuno just days after he arrived as Graham Potter’s replacement.
The Irons were expected to strike a relatively straightforward deal for the muscle-bound Spaniard at the start of the month.
But Fulham angered West Ham by moving the goalposts over Traore – trying to prey on their London rivals’ desperation by suddenly demanding £7m – more than three times the original agreement – for a player out of contract in the summer.
West Ham close in on double signing from London rivals
A lack of end product has always been the biggest criticism of Traore’s game.
But the rapid winger played some of his best football under Nuno at Wolves and has the ability to get West Ham up the pitch quickly, relieving pressure on what is the second worst defence in the top flight.
Adama Traore has a dismal minutes-to-goal record in the Premier League 😲
West Ham are sleepwalking towards relegation with this transfer…
Fulham refused to let Traore leave until they had their three Nigeria stars back from AFCON.
Hammers News reported at the weekend that West Ham were edging closer to bringing Traore to the London Stadium.
Our report stated that the club expected to have the 30-year-old signed up and registered in time to face Chelsea this weekend.
There were rumours Traore was getting cold feet over the move.
But Hammers News understands from a top West Ham source that Traore is finally at the club ready to sign on the dotted line and be unveiled as the fourth arrival of the window.
West Ham insider ExWHUemployee is reporting the same information on his West Ham Way Patreon.
Traore and Kinsky ‘close’ but Nuno wants more West Ham signings
It seems signing number five won’t be too far behind Traore either.
This time it is a raid on another London rival, Tottenham, for a player many Spurs fans feel has been criminally under-used.
Journalist Matteo Moretto, who works with the likes of Marca and Fabrizio Romano, claims West Ham are close to finalising the signing of Czech goalkeeper Antonin Kinsky.
Kinsky has struggled for game time at Tottenham despite the questionable form of number one Guglielmo Vicario.
The Hammers are reportedly signing former Slavia Prague star Kinsky on loan with a non-mandatory purchase option.
There were claims last week that that £15m West Ham flop Mads Hermansen could move in the other direction to Spurs as part of the deal, where he would work with fellow Dane Thomas Frank – for now at least.
But there is no mention of Hermansen in the update from Moretto.
If Nuno gets his way, though, West Ham won’t be done there because he is demanding more signings to ‘rebalance’ his Hammers squad.
After the 3-1 win over Sunderland, Nuno told the press: “I still believe that we need to rebalance our squad. We need options in some positions.
“We need to become more competitive. I still believe in the work the club is doing.”
And it seems Kinsky and Traore may not be the only signings West Ham make from London rivals this week.
Because Chelsea have dropped a major hint over a West Ham deal with a key position in need of strengthening for the run-in.
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