West Ham have provided a fresh transfer update, with news of an imminent signing and adjusted plans to add a new striker to Graham Potter’s squad.
The Hammers have been accelerating their business with just over six weeks of the summer window remaining.
Selling Mohammed Kudus to Tottenham will likely be the most controversial decision West Ham make this summer.
West Ham’s £54.5m Kudus deal will already be filling David Sullivan with regret after what he did on his Spurs bow.
But it did hold the key to unlocking West Ham’s window.
More deals on the way for West Ham
Graham Potter finally made his first permanent signing as West Ham boss when El Hadji Malick Diouf arrived from Slavia Prague in a deal worth up to £23m.
Diouf may take the edge off the loss of Kudus after an exciting Hammers showing.
West Ham are far from done there, though.
There was surprise when the club immediately moved on from Diouf to try and sign another fullback.
After being formally announced as an imminent signing on Besiktas’ website, West Ham made an 11th hour bid to sign Kyle Walker-Peters.
The free agent has been a West Ham target since 2020.
In fact the Hammers tried to sign him before bringing in Vladimir Coufal.
Photo by Matt Watson/Southampton FC via Getty Images
The fast and versatile former Tottenham man can play just as well at left full-back as he can on his natural right side.
At 28, Walker-Peters has experience too, something West Ham lost a lot of when releasing Aaron Cresswell, Coufal and Lukasz Fabianski.
The former England man also counts as a homegrown player.
His signing is particularly savvy given Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Diouf will be going to the African Nations in January.
Turkish giants Besiktas all but confirmed Walker-Peters’ move to West Ham.
West Ham issue transfer update on imminent new signing
Walker-Peters has been having his medical this weekend and the club has now confirmed his announcement is imminent.
“Kyle Walker-Peters is 99 per cent done,” a spokesman for West Ham’s owners told Hammers News.
There has been much talk about midfield being the club’s next priority.
But it was put to the Hammers board whether signing a striker is still among the priorities too.
Especially after the unimpressive performance of Niclas Fullkrug in the friendly win over Grasshoppers.
Photo by Rob Newell – CameraSport via Getty ImagesHammers make Potter’s striker plan clear
Just over a week ago, West Ham’s hierarchy revealed the club still “hope to sign one or two strikers”.
Having already ruled out moves for injury-prone free agents Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Callum Wilson, that update seriously excited supporters.
Now when pressed on the striker search, West Ham have made their stance clear.
And it will manage expectations among fans about the type of forward the Hammers will be in the market for.
“The manager doesn’t think we need an expensive striker,” the top spokesman for West Ham’s owners exclusively told Hammers News.
Expensive striker signings have rarely worked out at West Ham down the years.
Marko Arnautovic has been the best striker the club has signed in the last decade or more.
And he only cost £20m from Stoke.
So West Ham stating Potter doesn’t want to use up too much money going after an expensive striker signing isn’t necessarily a disaster.
Potter right to focus on value in West Ham striker hunt
Those signings often bring big pressure for the player and manager and the risk to reward at a team like West Ham is too high.
Evann Guessand of Nice, Emanuel Emegha of Strasbourg and Celtic’s Daizen Maeda have all been linked and would not cost any more than £25m each according to reports.
However, there is a lot of interest in Guessand and Emegha is expected to sign a deal to eventually join Strasbourg’s sister club Chelsea in the future.
Meanwhile Brentford are reportedly planning to try and sign Maeda if they sell Yoane Wissa – who was reportedly turned down by West Ham.
The fact West Ham have made it clear the manager wants an inexpensive striker signing will undoubtedly reignite talk of moves for free agents Calvert-Lewin and Wilson.
The Hammers had made it clear neither were being targeted due to their injury records previously.
However, many thought West Ham had moved on from the Walker-Peters interest only for him to sign somewhat out of the blue.
So while Calvert-Lewin and Wilson are both available for no transfer fee, they cannot necessarily be ruled out.