Three deals all but done and up to six more in progress is West Ham’s realistic plan for how they want the coming weeks to unfold leading up to the start of pre-season.
West Ham fans are starting to get agitated by the club’s slow start to a vital summer transfer window.
Graham Potter promised an ‘exciting and interesting’ window for the Hammers.
The reality is, it has been anything but so far.
Earlier this week West Ham’s board told fans not to panic about the club’s transfer inactivity.
The full summer window has been open for a week on Monday. So it is still early days.
But Potter, who is planning to sign at least five players this summer and trim what he feels is a bloated squad of senior players, admitted he ‘ideally’ wanted to work with new arrivals in pre-season.
That gets underway in less than two weeks with players expected to start returning to training in the first week of July.
West Ham have been insisting they cannot sell until they can buy due to PSR.
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How West Ham want window to play out in coming weeks
But the club gave fans hope this week when West Ham’s owners stated ‘anything is possible’ when asked whether signings could be made before sales – in the knowledge there would be several outgoings at some stage.
With no sign of any imminent deals in or out, though, supporters are furious.
Especially off the back of such a poor season and having given Potter grace until he has his own players in the door.
As the next two to three weeks shape up to be crucial, the Hammers are aiming to have some news on the horizon soon.
This is how West Ham want window to play out in coming weeks with three deals done – or thereabouts – and six more in progress.
Nayef Aguerd out
Moroccan defender Nayef Aguerd has asked not to return to West Ham for pre-season training as he wants a permanent move away after spending last season on loan at Real Sociedad.
Aguerd is one of West Ham’s more sellable assets after doing well in the slower-paced, less physical La Liga.
That being said, Real Sociedad are conspicuously quiet about keeping Aguerd on a permanent deal. Other suitors such as Bayer Leverkusen and Marseille have signed other defenders but Italian clubs Juventus and Roma have come to the rescue for West Ham’s Aguerd hopes.
West Ham want at least £15-17m for Aguerd and Roma are the most likely to meet that minimum amount as things stand.
At the moment Aguerd looks West Ham’s most likely first exit in the near future.
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Emerson Palmieri out
Another West Ham defender who could be set for a move to Italy soon is Emerson Palmieri.
Potter made it clear from the start he did not fancy Emerson, dropping him for youngster Ollie Scarles in his first game in charge.
Emerson rarely started for West Ham thereafter. And when he did, he was subbed off every single time.
Potter dropped Emerson from the squad altogether for the last game of the season, prompting a cryptic social media post from the Brazilian-born left-back.
It has been confirmed the Hammers have told Emerson to find a new club and Lazio, as well as Turkish sides, are pushing to sign him in what looks another deal likely to be done sooner rather than later at around the £6-8m mark.
Mohammed Kudus all but out
It is almost guaranteed Mohammed Kudus will be leaving West Ham this summer. Not least because the Hammers are desperate for the money and he is their most sellable player – besides untouchable Jarrod Bowen.
There was a huge development this weekend with all roads leading to a Kudus breakthrough for West Ham after major news out of Chelsea.
Spurs have moved on to Antoine Semenyo and West Ham would prefer not to break a 14-year transfer embargo with their rivals to sell Kudus to them.
Chelsea look Kudus’ most likely destination. But given it is a large deal, it could linger on for some time yet. The hope, though, is that reported interest from Man United, Newcastle and others pushes on of them to put their cards on the table to win the race for the Ghanaian.
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Six more West Ham ins and outs on horizon
It is emerging that West Ham’s priority transfer targets are Nice forward Evann Guessand and Club Brugge midfielder Raphael Onyedika.
They are seen as key to changing how West Ham play and in making the team more dynamic.
Guessand is available for around £26m but also has Wolves on his tail.
The good news for West Ham is that Guessand wants a Premier League move.
So much so the Ivory Coast star has turned down Fenerbahce this week, despite having a Zoom call with the Turkish club’s charismatic manager Jose Mourinho.
Onyedika, who has been likened to Moises Caicedo, is Brugge’s lynchpin in midfield. He is the player who takes the ball off the defence and starts nearly every move for his team while also being the first line of defence in stopping attacks.
Club Brugge have actually already admitted they must sell this summer with a bargain fee of just £17m being reported for the Nigeria international.
There have been a series of encouraging updates on West Ham’s interest in the 24-year-old. And the Hammers have been further boosted by the fact other clubs are yet to make any official moves for Onyedika.
Southampton defender Taylor Harwood-Bellis is well-liked as the centre-back target while the Hammers also need a new goalkeeper with Chelsea’s Djorde Petrovic and Leicester’s Mads Hermansen the main two targets.
The next most likely departures for any significant money are striker Niclas Fullkrug and defender Konstantinos Mavropanos.
Potter publicly stated he only sees Fullkrug as a back-up striker for West Ham. That won’t work for the German in a World Cup year and he has Juventus and German clubs interested.
Potter actually likes Mavropanos, who is a popular player in the squad. But the big Greek has been error-prone and may be shipped out if West Ham can recoup around £8-10m.
Other players could well depart such as Maxwel Cornet and Michail Antonio. But Cornet is likely to have to be loaned out or sold for next to nothing to get him off the books with limited takers.
West Ham have a string of targets lined up, particularly for midfield, if certain deals don’t work out.
But those are the most likely as things stand in the near future, moving into pre-season.