West Ham United are reportedly plotting a raft of new additions before the September deadline, as manager David Moyes seeks to bolster his squad depth.
What's the word?
According to journalist Ryan Taylor - speaking to GIVEMESPORT - the Hammers are attempting to conclude deals for three players at present, with Fenerbache's Attila Szalai, Club Brugge giant Hans Vanaken and Spezia defender Jakub Kiwior all tipped for a move to the London Stadium.
The transfer insider stated: “Yeah definitely, I think Kiwior, Szalai, and Vanaken are ones that West Ham are actively trying to do at the moment. But the kind of situation with West Ham at the moment seems to be they’re not really making any progress on a number of deals.
“We saw the Emerson deal initially collapse, and the Club Brugge lad [Vanaken] seems to be sort of being held in Belgium at the moment, in terms of they don’t want him to go.”
The east Londoners are said to have had a €10m (£8.5m) bid turned down for Vanaken as well as a €12m (£10m) offer rebuffed for Kiwior, while the suggestion is that Szalai could cost in the region of £15m.
Newman masterclass
Managing to snap up around £33.5m worth of talent - plus the possible addition of Chelsea's Emerson Palmieri - before the window slams shut on 1 September would represent something of a transfer masterclass for head of recruitment Rob Newman, with the Englishman seemingly pulling out all the stops to improve Moyes' ranks.
The need for new acquisitions has been laid bare by what's been a tricky start to the new season, with three defeats in as many games in the league thus far leaving the Irons languishing at the foot of the table having yet to score a top-flight goal.
The addition of Vanaken - who has already spoken of his desire to make the move - could well solve that issue, with the Belgian playmaker having scored 102 goals and provided 73 assists in 344 games across all competitions since arriving at his current side back in 2015.
In the case of Kiwior, the Polish centre-back would add further steel to a backline that has been ravaged by injury of late, with the loss of summer signing Nayef Aguerd having proven a particularly cruel blow for the Premier League side.
The 22-year-old could help fill that void having thrived in Italy of late, with the two-cap gem notably averaging 2.3 tackles and 1.8 interceptions from his 22 Serie A games last term, with that a far better record than the likes of Craig Dawson - who averaged 0.9 for both metrics - and Kurt Zouma (0.5 tackles and 1.4 interceptions) from the 2021/22 campaign.
Adding Szalai into the mix would also help to further strengthen that failing defensive unit which has shipped five league goals already this season, with the Hungarian colossus also offering the benefit of being able to feature at both centre-back and left-back, as well as on the left of a back three - where he recently lined up for his country in the 4-0 thrashing of England.
Such acquisitions could well prove astute pieces of business for Newman and co, with West Ham able to strengthen in a number of other areas without seemingly having to break the bank.