The January transfer window opened today as one minute past midnight as 2019 started and will close at 11 pm on 31st January. West Ham got off to an early start by signing free agent Samri Nasri yesterday who completed his 12-month ban on New Year’s Eve.
We shouldn’t get too carried away with rumours during the winter transfer period as our funds are limited after a £95m summer spending spree and our wage bill is right at the FFP limitation. Pellegrini says he is generally happy with the squad and will wait until the summer so we should expect another one possibly two players inbound which are likely to be cheap or loans.
The most likely next signing is Gary Medel from Besiktas, a versatile player who can play in defensive and attacking positions.
Known as ‘The Pitbull’, Medel is an aggressive, combative holding midfielder who featured for Cardiff City in the past.
The Hammers board are also known to take small gambles on relatively unknown but cheaper players, Xande Silvre was the last of these in the summer but wouldn’t be surprised if they wanted an unknown to winter list.
West Ham have made it known that none of their first team players are up for sale this winter and they will resist any attempts by other clubs to buy or loan their key players. The only possibly sale will be fringe players such as Reece Oxford who have no future under Manuel Pellegrini.
I don’t have a problem with not spending too much in this window as we’ve got pretty much a second team in the treatment room, with some of the crocks returning sooner rather than later, hopefully.
An honest question. If after one decently funded transfer window the board are once again claiming there isn’t much left in the bank, just how did Sully and Gold expect us to reach their mythical ‘next level’?
Did they honestly think that by simply having 60,000 bums on seats in a shiny new athletics stadium we would magically transform into a top 4 club, and one good transfer window every 5 years or so would suffice?
Generally the winter window is not a window were you do the business as they say. It’s a time to reinforce a few key areas to finish the season. So let’s wait and see what comes this summer. If I remember correctly Spurs didn’t do any business this last summer and it has not hurt them. But I would agree we need updates in the striker and back line. So let’s see. Pelligrini has been great so far, has an eye for talent, buys players to fit his scheme, and can coach unlike a certain Man U, man who was recently fired 😂🤣.