Irons barricades go up but midfielder of interest

West Ham’s powers-that-be have put up the barricades on transfer window activity to a large extent but a move for midfield and defensive enforcer Gary Medel could still be on.

The Besiktas player was recently reported as being the subject of a £6.5 million bid but ClaretandHugh understands there were no talks involved and that the Hammers would not be interested in paying more than £3m-£4m.

We were told at the time the report first emerged: “There has been no inquiry or talks at this stage – just a name amongst one or two although there is very unlikely to be a great deal of transfer activity. Medel wouldn’t cost near the figure mentioned.”

And this morning we were told: “Nothing much has changed – we don’t expect a lot of activity but it’s unhelpful to discuss what we may or may not do.”

However, Manuel Pellegrini wants some cover for Declan Rice and sees the Chilean midfielder as a reasonable prospect at a sensible price..

Besiktas manager Senol Gunes is reported as wanting  to keep the former Cardiff City, Inter Milan and Sevilla enforcer in Istanbul.