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This article is part of Football FanCast's Transfer Focus series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent transfer news...
West Ham have a measly transfer budget to work with prior to Thursday’s deadline, per ClaretandHugh.
What’s the word?
The Hammers have signed Sebastian Haller for a club-record fee this summer, spending £45m on the striker, per Football FanCast sources, and have also signed Pablo Fornals from Villarreal for a fee of £24m.
Those deals have taken a significant chunk of the club’s budget and ClaretandHugh now reports that they have “considerably less than £5m” available to spend on any more new additions.
Indeed, manager Manuel Pellegrini has reportedly been told that he can only afford one more squad player as he looks to further strengthen a squad that finished 10th last season.
Football FanCast understands, however, that the club’s board expects the Irons to qualify for Europe this season after a summer of investment.
Deflating news
West Ham still need additions.
The club have been left with two strikers – Haller and Javier Hernandez – after Jordan Hugill, Andy Carroll, Lucas Perez and Marko Arnautovic all departed the club.
Michail Antonio can play up top but he is more of a winger and one feels that another forward would be a shrewd addition.
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The club could also use another defensive addition, particularly with Winston Reid a remarkably injury-prone centre-back.
The New Zealand international missed the entirety of the 2018/19 season with a knee injury and he cannot be relied upon to complete as many as 38 games in a single campaign.
Having even less than £5m in the kitty, though, suggests that the Irons may well have to sacrifice depth in one key position; that cannot be a good thing prior to the season’s kick-off.
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