Well, just over a week has passed since the West Ham United end of season awards for the 2012/2013 season, and what an evening it was.

The whole West Ham squad was suited and booted and out in force at the Grosvenor Hotel, in London.

It was a particularly action packed night for loanee Andy Carroll and midfielder powerhouse Mohamed Diame, both whom picked up multiple awards.

Andy Carroll leapt to the stage twice on the evening as he was named Chairman's player of the season along with the award for top scorer, although he did have to share the accolade with best mate Kevin Nolan.

Diame however managed to go one better than team mate Carroll, as he picked up an awards night hat-trick after a brilliant first season at Upton Park.

The Senegalese star was on-stage for both Goal of the season and individual performance of the season, but his biggest award was yet to come. There was no doubt that the two previous awards helped him on his way to the third, as he scooped the award for signing of the season, right from under the nose of Carroll.

It's safe to say that the pairing have had fairly successful seasons for the Hammers', but what now?

With the season drawing to an end, and the transfer window gently edging open, where do we stand with our best players?

There's no doubt that the permanent signing of Andy Carroll is the top of the agenda for both Gold and Sullivan, but should keeping Diame at the club seek precedence?

We, as fans, were fully aware that there were many admirers of the midfielder in January, mainly because of the contract clause currently in his contract. It is believed that Diame has a release clause of just £3.5 million, which in Premier League standards is pittance. Meaning that there could be many more suitors coming our way this summer.

Carroll however is on the other end of the transfer scale, as the club are expected to cough up, up to £15 million. It'd be a signing that would smash the previous transfer record that was set when Matt Jarvis was signed from Wolves, it would also be a massive signal of intent from the board as they try and move forward.

But a signal of intent is realistically all we can offer as a club. We have to accept that if any club was to come in with European football under their belt then we'd be blown out of the water, no matter what good intentions the club have going forward.

I'm sure many fans of the club, including me, expect Diame to be gone by the end of the summer, especially if his latest performance at Everton was anything to go by. The midfielder was incredibly lethargic throughout and was replaced at half-time by Big Sam having been somewhat anonymous throughout.

Rumours are rife that we'd like the deal for Carroll to be done sooner rather than later. With some sources even suggesting that the club could strike a deal with Liverpool before Sunday's end of season finale against Reading.

Signing Carroll is obviously a great signal of intent, but it feels like it's going too easily so far. Are we able to sign Carroll because he is set on the club and loves the direction we're going in? Or are we likely to sign the striker largely unchallenged because nobody, including Liverpool, wants the striker?

I get the feeling that it's the latter.

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