With the Declan Rice deal to Arsenal virtually done and dusted, West Ham can now concentrate all of their efforts on beefing up their squad during their pre-season.
The last thing the Hammers need is to be scrabbling around at the end of the window looking for last-minute bargains that they’ll then need to integrate into the squad in double-quick time.
The money from Rice’s sale should afford David Moyes the opportunity to go out into the marketplace and buy at least three or four players that will give the east Londoners the strength in depth that they’ll require when attacking the Europa League and their domestic commitments.
One area where they are light, particularly with the loss of Rice, is in midfield. One or two new signings there are a must, and to that end, Football Insider are reporting that the Hammers are stepping up their pursuit of Southampton’s dead-ball specialist, James Ward-Prowse.
After apparently leading the chase for Leicester’s Harvey Barnes, only to see Newcastle muscling in on the deal, David Sullivan can’t prevaricate any longer, lest he risks losing out on Ward-Prowse too.
Though he isn’t a direct replacement for Rice, the below graphic from Data MB shows exactly why the east Londoners will need another defensive midfielder in quickly.
Ward-Prowse will at least give West Ham an edge when it comes to dead-ball situations in and around the box, and from a personal point of view, the 28-year-old could be an outside bet for England’s European Championship squad if he has a good season at the London Stadium.
Westham seem to be focused on Zakaria who’s failed everywhere . Juve bought him for 8 million , he totally failed , and now they’re dumping him on Westham for 20 million . Each time Westham buy a dud they lose 20 million , so how is it that Juve expect to make a substantial profit on this dud ? Deals can take a couple of weeks , but of course if a serious offer is posted on day one by late June deals can be done like almost every other team achieved . JWP should be done already if Westham were decisive , and that’s the problem .
Westham are attempting signings by committee and that doesn’t work . Love Moyes or hate him , he’s the gaffer and picks the team each week . We have seen if he doesn’t fancy a player it’s over .