West Ham are having the best season of their premier league tenure as we speak, sitting 4th on the table over halfway through the season. We’re through to the next stage of Europa League football after earning our spot there with a 6th place finish in last year’s Premier League competition while having the best young midfielder in the world on our roster, Declan Rice. Despite this, I, as well as the majority of West Ham fans, have a sour taste in my mouth following the end of the recent transfer window.
To put it simply, West Ham’s squad depth is as deep as a puddle after a light rain shower. Our team quality is good and our team chemistry is a huge part of why we are having such a successful season, but our bench and reserves are just plain not good enough for what West Ham is aiming for. The gap in quality is so noticeable it was very embarrassing to see that little to no effort was made in bringing in desperately needed summer signings.
Despite Michail Antonio being the quality of his day and our only striker, he often spends his games cluelessly wandering around the pitch half assed-ly chasing the ball. This is incredibly frustrating to watch. With both of our first team centre-backs out, Angelo Ogbonna having a huge injury, and Kurt Zouma under fire for a recent video where he was filmed hitting and kicking his pet cat (which by the way, I do not condone for a microsecond, even if he is an integral part of the West Ham squad). Both of those positions need filling in desperately. I’m not saying that our bench is bad, I think they are fantastic footballers. Craig Dawson and Issa Diop are both hard working centre backs who can show flashes of class. I’m saying that West Ham’s bench is not good enough to keep pushing for European spots like we currently are, playing against bigger teams with better players and better financial backing.
We need a striker and centre-back, players who can consistently compete in the Premier League. Marseille’s Duje Ćaleta-Car would have been a fantastic signing in centre back for us. The 24-year-old Croatian is one of the best young defenders in the world right now, part of a Marseille team in a similar position to West Ham and having a really good season. Getting him into the premier league would have been the step he needed to become a world class centre back. The fact West Ham wouldn’t pay 18 Million Pounds for his services is shocking, that’s a bargain in the modern transfer climate. Especially if players like Harry Maguire are supposedly worth 80 Million Pounds. A measly loan offer on deadline day was made, frankly just adding insult to injury. It’s as if the West Ham board and coaching staff forgot what time it was.
In terms of a striker, Darwin Nuñez would be a quality contender. The Benfica ace has been having a fantastic season and would be a fantastic addition to the squad. However, he has made it clear he wants to join a team who is going to play Champions League football, which I think West Ham would be very lucky to get at this point in the season. So that signing is unlikely. Ben Brereton Diaz, the English born Chilean national team player for Blackburn, would be a fantastic signing as well. While interest was there, no offer was made. He is in the form of his life right now and while it would be a gamble to bring a quality championship player to the prem, we’ve seen it work with Jarrod Bowen, one of West Ham’s best players right now.
The only positive I can gather from this window is that West Ham clearly have their eyes on top talent. Players who have proven that they’re ready for that next step up into the big leagues. Aside from that, January was an incredibly lazy window from West Ham. Making late bids on players we didn’t need like Leeds midfielders Raphinha and Kalvin Phillips and making lazy bids on players we did need like the aforementioned loan offer for Duje Ćaleta-Car. I’m hoping Moyesy has an insane plan in mind, otherwise, I think we won’t hit the heights we could have hit if we had a better window.
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