West Ham United have attempted to make splashes in the transfer market over the summer in their bid to break into the Champions League next season.
But the lack of a new top class striker and the crucial injury to Aaron Cresswell are serious body blows with, maybe, some of the cash put aside for the front man, having to be redirected into the left back position.
After finishing seventh last term, just four points adrift of the top four, the effort to bridge the gap things are becomng becoming tougher and tougher.
Defeat in the first leg of their Europa Cup opener against Slovenian minnows Domezele is concetrating minds but the club have a shopping list of three for that left back role and despite much waiting, Carlos Bacca is still on the agenda
The club has Havard Nordveit and Sofiane Feghouli – who showed reasonably well on Thirsday night and the manager is not short of creative options.
Lanzini however, was injured ahead of the Rio Olympics and Tore, too, has taken a knock in training. The club are monitoring both closely.
Despite the problems, the Hammers continue to dream of emulating Leicester City’s feat of winning the top-flight crown for the first time, with the latest football betting odds backing them at 80/1.
Wewere one of the highest-scoring teams in the division last season, notching 65 strikes in their march towards joining Europe’s elite.
Dimitri Payet shined throughout as leading scorer with AC grabbing nine goals in the top flight.
As a result, Bilic seems determined to land a striker before the start of the new term to ease the pressure on the winger in the final third.
We were of course interested in Michy Batshuayi and lodged a bid to acquire the Belgium international from Marseille, but were beaten to his signature by Chelsea.
Missing out on Batshuayi has forced Billic to look elsewhere for his elusive frontman, and Carlos Bacca remains in the frame although once again we face competition to sign the Colombia international.
The 29-year-old has enjoyed a great deal of success since his move to Europe, thriving in his time with Club Brugge, Sevilla and Milan last season. Over the course of his career he has a record of notching a goal every other match, highlighting his quality in front of the net.
Those attributes will appeal massively to West Ham, given that they lack a real poacher inside the box as Carroll, Enner Valencia and Diafra Sakho along with Payet are not prolific goalscorers.
Should Bacca complete his move to the Hammers, it would add another dimension to their play and give opposition defences plenty of problems dealing with the threat of the Colombian and Payet in the final third.
His arrival could spark a serious challenge for the top four, handing Bilic a similar potent duo to the one that went one step further and delivered the Premier League title for Leicester City in Jamie Vardy and Riyad Mahrez.
The Hammers will be anxious to get the deal over the line but it would be prudent for them to have alternative options and they continue to explore several.
Bilic and the Irons face an important final five weeks of the transfer window in order to make their dreams a reality.
A season long loan deal for Fosu-Mensah with the option to buy might be a solution for left back.
Why are we still in for Bacca? Can’t understand why we are wasting more time on this guy if he has no interest. Buy Ayew and put the £10 mil difference towards a full back (I think Milan’s De Sciglio can play both sides). Then maybe a loan deal for Bony or Iheanacho?
Ayew is no where near the same level as Sakho, so are you saying we take a step backwards this season ? I would bring in the Calleri lad from Argentina on loan and go back in with an incredible offer for Lacherrette, one he or Lyon cannot refuse. I would not put Carroll and potent in the same sentence. Carroll has become a thorn in the development of this team.
Andre Ayew is nowhere near the level of Sakho ???
Disagree strongly with that tbh.
Carroll though is a thorny issue.I know he walks on water according to some but I’m afraid I I’ll never be in that camp.
How is improving the squad, bringing in a proven premiership goal scorer and getting rid of a player who doesn’t want to be at the club and who handed in a transfer request a step backwards?
Apart from the new left back / right back we need our players to be able to pass better in the middle of the park. AC still has the same question marks over him as he did under Allardyce, do we lose more than we gain with a big target man and will he ever offer enough goals to warrant being a first choice on the team sheet ? I said it in another post I think but it would be interesting to see on the training ground whether he could be used as a centre back, he is exceptional defensively and offensively at set plays, if he could be converted similarly to Sutton and Dublin of the past then we could answer those questions because he is wasted in my opinion as a pure centre forward, too often our attacking players are in position to put the ball into the box and he is a long way behind the play often because he is so slow in comparison. I think our strength is our fast counter but with him up front we are always short of the numbers to make that effective, for all of his ability on the air he is not that great at playing other players in either. I would when we have them available prefer to see two pacy strikers with good movement up top and a midfield general such as Peyrera of Juventus who can play them in through the middle to supplement all of our ability from wide left and wide right. I am probably wishing for too much but I am an optimist.
Bacca has no intention of coming to us so even talking about him is pointless. Ayew could be good value .