West Ham have reportedly launched bids for three players worth a total of £125m after their shambolic start to the new season.
But angry Hammers fans may take the news with a large pinch of salt with many alleging it is the return of phantom bids and faux ambition.
Others will hope it is simply Graham Potter, Kyle Macaulay and the board finally getting their act together to address glaring deficiencies which were brutally exposed in the 3-0 opening day defeat to Sunderland.
West Ham fans were realistic heading into the new season having made just four signings – only two of them for the starting XI.
Even the most optimistic of Hammers fans appreciated a return to challenging for Europe looked highly unlikely.
Especially on the evidence of Potter’s dismal win ratio since arriving in January and the lack of investment in the team this summer.
West Ham “launch” £125m transfer raid after shambolic start
But nobody connected with West Ham could envisage just how bad things would be against newly-promoted Sunderland.
After a respectable first half performance, the Hammers rolled over and had their bellies tickled in the second half, shipping three shocking goals.
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The result and display has piled the pressure back on Potter and the owners, who now have just two weeks left of a specially extended summer transfer window in which to improve the team.
Without those improvements, West Ham look all ends up relegation candidates based on the evidence of their performance against a Sunderland side also tipped to struggle.
Forget Stadium of Light, West Ham appear to have been scared into action but what they witnessed at the Stadium of Fright.
Chelsea FC v Bayer 04 Leverkusen - Pre-Season Friendly
Photo by Catherine Ivill – AMA/Getty Images
That’s if various transfer claims that have emerged since are anything to go by.
Because West Ham have launched a £125m triple transfer raid after the shambolic start and it’s right on cue.
According to Brazilian journalist Vene Casagrande, West Ham have seen a £45m bid for Andrey Santos rejected by Chelsea.
The brilliant 18-year-old central midfielder was superb on loan at Chelsea’s sister club Strasbourg in Ligue 1 last season, scoring 11 goals and laying on three assists.
Hammers bid for Santos as new move mooted for Fernandes
“Chelsea rejected a £45 million offer from West Ham for Andrey Santos,” Casagrande told his one million followers on X.
“The Blues manager contacted West Ham’s board to inform them that the Brazilian player will not leave the team and advised them to abandon the pursuit.”
It has since been claimed that West Ham are preparing to make another offer for Santos.
Then came a big hint from a Portuguese journalist that the Hammers have made another move for Southampton star Mateus Fernandes.
West Ham saw a £30m bid for 21-year-old Fernandes rejected last week and it is claimed the Saints want at least £50m.
But since then Will Still has given West Ham encouragement by admitting Saints have to make sales to buy.
Given Southampton’s £50m valuation, that’s £95m worth of bids being touted since the Sunderland defeat.
Mateus Fernandes during Southampton Pre-Season Friendly
Photo by Matt Watson/Southampton FC via Getty Images
Topping that up to £125m is word from a club insider on popular Hammers site KUMB.
And it will feel like groundhog day as it is being claimed West Ham have made a fresh bid for Rodrigo Muniz of Fulham having tried to sign the Brazilian last summer.
The source says Hammers chief David Sullivan is a big admirer of the player, who has been linked with a £30m move to Atalanta.
West Ham fans will desperately want to believe these bids and links are legitimate.
But most Hammers supporters are too long in the tooth to get their hopes up.
Phantom bids and faux ambition or panic stations?
They will also point to the timing of the alleged moves as very suspect.
Outspoken pundit and former Premier League club owner Simon Jordan famously accused Sullivan of phantom bids and faux ambition.
The inference is that the Hammers make public their interest in players to appease fans, sell season tickets or to point to as evidence the club tried to make signings.
Many West Ham fans feel the Jhon Duran saga was one such example.
The feeling among the fanbase will undoubtedly be the same about this supposed flurry of activity for Santos, Fernandes and Muniz.
Another explanation could be that West Ham are bouncing from one target to another after a series of rejections.
That in itself would be indicative of an incoherent, scattergun approach West Ham fans hoped they’d seen the back of.
Although given how bad things were at Sunderland, it may be a necessary evil this summer.