West Ham’s transfer window has finally exploded into life in dramatic fashion with a David Sullivan ally revealing the club has tabled bids for three players in one day.
Thirteen is unlucky for some, but the Hammers are hoping that isn’t going to be the case for them.
Because 13 is the number of days West Ham have left to make signings which will dictate whether they stay in the Premier League in what is their 13th consecutive season since being promoted in 2012.
Everything about West Ham screams, at the very least, a club that should be regularly challenging for the top eight.
The Irons have the second biggest attendances in the country, sit 17th in Europe’s highest earning clubs and have the third wealthiest ownership in the top flight.
Massive Hammers should be top eight regulars
But 18 months of regression has seen a host of pundits and journalists tip West Ham for relegation to the Championship.
The jury is firmly out on Graham Potter.
And neither he nor his team did anything to prove the doubters wrong when West Ham kicked off the new season with a dismal 3-0 defeat at newly-promoted Sunderland.
The Black Cats are a prime example of the task at hand for the Hammers.
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Regis Le Bris’s side has spent over £150m on new players this summer.
Graham Potter and Niclas Fullkrug after Sunderland v West Ham United - Premier League
Photo by Robbie Jay Barratt – AMA/Getty Images
By contrast, West Ham, who were in need of a big rebuild, have moved eight first team players on and have brought in only four players thus far.
Worse still, only two of those, El Hadji Malick Diouf and Mads Hermansen, have been signed for the starting XI.
West Ham have been operating a sell to buy policy, citing PSR as a major concern with £100m plus losses coming in their next accounts this December.
A growing number of supporters have been calling for the owners to sell the club.
But Karren Brady insists West Ham’s owners are here to stay amid rumours of a US takeover bid.
With their Premier League lives on the line this season, the Hammers simply must get things right in what remains of the window.
West Ham finally burst into life with 13 days left of window
It is scarcely believable that West Ham have left the most important element of Potter’s rebuild until last.
Midfield has been the club’s fundamental issue since the sale of Declan Rice.
It lacks pace, power, guile, athleticism, dynamism and energy. So it was all the more baffling when Potter ditched young Freddie Potts for the opener after starting him throughout pre-season.
Edson Alvarez is in the midst of deciding where he wants to move to while Guido Rodriguez and Andy Irving are for sale too.
Midfield was once again the big issue at Sunderland as the Hammers were run over by the Black Cats.
Now West Ham have finally burst into life as a key David Sullivan ally lifts the lid on an official triple bid.
West Ham head coach Graham Potter talks to midfielder Edson Alvarez
Photo by Rob Newell – CameraSport via Getty Images
The Irons have been linked with a plethora of midfielders this summer.
They turned down Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall during talks with Chelsea over Mohammed Kudus.
West Ham also explained why they did not want Jack Grealish.
Jacob Ramsey chose Newcastle over the Hammers.
And the club also saw a £30m bid rejected by Southampton for Portuguese star Mateus Fernandes.
It’s been claimed that Lille star Ngal’ayel Mukau is also a top Hammers target too.
The feeling is that West Ham need at least one but ideally two new central midfielders.
Now there is some welcome, and long overdue, good news on that front.
Sullivan ally lifts lid on West Ham’s official triple midfielder bid
Because Hammers insider and Sullivan confidant Sean Whetstone has revealed West Ham have today submitted not one, not two but THREE official bids for midfielders.
Better still his West Ham source, believed to be Sullivan, has confirmed the club hope to sign two of the three players they have bid for.
Although the Hammers were keen to point out they would not be signing all three.
‘About time too’ will be the collective response from Hammers fans.
This is intriguing news given reports that have emerged since the Sunderland debacle.
It has been reported that a West Ham bid for Mukau would be launched now Alvarez is set to depart.
Less than 24 hours after the season opener, it was reported that the Hammers were weighing up a second bid for Chelsea star Andrey Santos after seeing a £45m offer rejected.
A Portuguese journalist also suggested a new bid was being readied for Saints star Fernandes.