Friday, September 2

Hammers spend big in window of opportunity

Well, it's certainly been quite a rebuilding operation with West Ham signing eight players this summer. The squad looks a lot stronger with the signing of Paquet, Emerson, Scamacca, Cornet, Areola, Downes, Kehrer and Aguerd. The players who have left were all either retiring (Noble), under-achieving (Diop) or limited at the top level (Fredericks, Yarmolemko, Kral), while the disappointing Vlasic has been loaned out along with Arthur Masuaku. Though thankfully Craig 'Ballon d'Orson' has not been sold despite late Wolves interest — he's been magnificent for us the last two seasons.

In total the Irons have spent something like £170 million and only recouped £15 million from the sale of Diop. Where the money has come from is something of a mystery, though Moyes had some cash saved down the back of the sofa from not buying a striker for 18 months. Sullivan and Gold aren't known for their lavish spending (apart from the Pellegrini splurge) so perhaps some of the cash has come from part-owner Daniel Kretinsky. 

If the signings fail or another pandemic hits you have to hope the club can take the hit, though ground capacity has increased and the club has the revenue from two European campaigns. And hopefully it's all still within UEFA Financial Fair Pay regulations, though presumably we can't keep spending at this rate. But the board have certainly shown ambition and backed Moyes, for which they deserve credit. Now we just need the signings to gel and fit into the club ethos. The players looked exhausted at the end of last season and reinforcements should freshen up the whole club.

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