David Moyes says there are no other transfers on the cards at the moment after Jesse Lingard is completed.
Speaking to reporters on a virtual pre-match press conference at lunch time he admitted he would like an additional striker but there nothing to report right now and he couldn’t guarantee there be an additional signing.
The manager will continue to review foreign loan options until the deadline on Monday although a loan for RB Leipzig striker Hee-Chan Hwang now looks unlikely now.
Moyes only wants to sign players who can bring further quality to the team and if he believes he can’t do that he will use Andriy Yarmolenko as make-shift back-up striker as he did against Doncaster Rovers. He also has Academy options of Dapo Afolayan and Mipo Odubeko at his disposal if needed and has made it clear he will look to Academy player if he needs to.
The transfer window in England for the Premier League and Sky Bet EFL opened on January 2 and will close at 11pm on Monday February 1.
The window in Scotland closes at midnight on Monday. Elsewhere, the transfer windows in the Bundesliga and Ligue 1 shut at 5pm on Monday, while the deadline is 7pm in Italy and 10.59pm in Spain on the same day.
Moyes has the team playing well and all round we look like a top 8 side at the moment but yarmalenko isn’t strong enough to play up top on his own so if we can get someone who is going to make a difference then fantastic .. Antonio unfortunately isn’t a natural forward and is also not a natural finisher but gives 💯.. Sounds harsh but with the chances we are creating a natural finisher would score 20 plus in this team….not having a go at Antonio’s effort or goals per game ratio since the first Lockdown but against Palace the other night he should have scored 4…COYI ⚒️
As things stand we do not have a senior striker at the club and that is unbelievable and a real issue. No one is in doubt to how well Antonio has played there for us but he is not a striker. I can’t believe we think He, Yarmo and a youngster from the academy is considered both adequate and also one supportive of securing our highest ever finish on the EPL.
Yarmalenko is not a forward, he wasn’t good enough to dislodge Haller, when Mikey was injured. We’ve had all last summer, and all of this transfer window, to find a striker. And we sign Lingard. I’m not blaming Moyes either, as he has done wonders. But if we want to keep our best players, we need to show some ambition. Maybe something might still happen in the transfer market, Or are we done?
The comments so far seem to endorse an opinion that we have no forwards of any consequence at the moment. Even if that is the case, I hope we can continue without anyone up front because it seems to be effective right now.
COYI