Although they’ve gone a little off the boil of late, West Ham have still enjoyed a decent start to their 2023/24 campaign, and the club are, apparently looking to strengthen further in the January window.
The signings that David Moyes and Tim Steidten made for the Hammers in the summer have all worked out brilliantly to date, with James Ward-Prowse and Edson Alvarez seeing a little more action that Mohammed Kudus and Konstantinos Mavropanos.
After the high of winning the Europa Conference League title last season, it was important for the Hammers that they continued in the same vain rather than allowing that to become the high point before they fell away again.
It’s clear that they still need to strengthen in various areas, as much for squad depth as having new players that can come straight into the starting XI.
According to Tuttomercatoweb, the Hammers were planning an audacious swoop for Juventus’ brilliant defensive midfielder, Manuel Locatelli.
The outlet has suggested that the east Londoners are readying a €40m/£35m bid for the player, but this is destined to end in disappointment according to Fabrizio Romano.
‘Although there have been rumours that West Ham are willing to pay £35m for Manuel Locatelli, I’ve reported that he’s close to reaching an agreement over a new deal at Juventus,’ the CaughtOffside columnist wrote in his exclusive Daily Briefing.
‘At the moment I’m not aware of any different movement, maybe in the summer but not now.’
With that option now unlikely to be available, director of football, Tim Steidten, and Moyes will have to get their act together to ensure they’re able to bring someone of similar quality in during the January window.