David Moyes admits he wanted West Ham to sign more British players who were based in the Premier League in the summer, but it was next to impossible to find any value.
The Hammers secured four signings from Ligue 1 in the summer, buying Thilo Kehrer and Alphonse Areola from PSG, Nayef Aguerd from Rennes, and Lucas Paqueta from Lyon.
The Hammers did shop in the domestic market, signing Emerson Palmieri from Chelsea, Maxwel Cornet from Burnley, and Flynn Downes from Swansea, but Moyes admits he would have liked to have signed a few more players from other Premier League teams as he looks to build a core of British players.
He told reporters: “I’d have liked it to have been the Premier League. Prem players were hugely expensive, even a couple we’ve mentioned, you’re going to buy from another club be it an overseas player or a player who has played in the Premier League they seemed more expensive so we tried to get our value from the other countries as well. But ultimately we want to get a strong British base if we can. It was just that the ones that were right at the time were from the French League.
“We’ve got rules, only a certain amount of overseas players you can have. You have to have players who are homegrown etc so that’s all part of the jigsaw of putting your squad together. We want the best players from wherever they come. I actually think if you look a bit deeper there’s been some tactical signing to keep some Brits in some squads to make sure their numbers equate correctly with homegrown talent, for example.”