It seems Nuno Espírito Santo is in the driving seat as far as the choice of the players he wants West Ham United to go and procure in the summer window. Whilst the decision to sell Fernandes and Summerville may be out of his hands, clearly the Portuguese manager has very strong ideas on who he does, and does not want to bring into the club.
Hence the rumoured recruitment of Portuguese u21 international Gustavo Sá. One can only assume the player is known to Nuno and Jorge Mendes as he is certainly known to Nuno’s new assistant.
It would also explain the rejection of Birmingham City ‘new boy’ Dael Fry: According to insidefutbol.com it was the Hammers manager who gave the ‘thumbs down’ verdict on Fry:
“West Ham United boss Nuno Espirito Santo ‘decided the club should be targeting better’ than Birmingham City new boy Dael Fry, who was on the Hammers’ list of defensive options.”
Dael Fry has joined Birmingham City after Nuno rejected the ‘free’ signing.
Which is all well and good, but the jury will remain out until the Irons do capture a new defensive recruit, at which point comparisons will be made between a new signing and Fry, who Nuno decreed ‘not good enough’.
Whether there’s a cunning plan in place for a better defender – only time will tell. Quite possibly the sale of Fernandes has given the Irons sufficient headroom to be a little more expansive than Dale, who was a ‘free’ signing after leaving Middlesboro at the end of his contract.
Either way, the idea of Nuno driving up standards and not accepting mediocre targets at West Ham is no bad thing.