Stuck in the middle

West Ham have been linked with more midfield players than you can shake a rolled-up contract at. This was always the area most in need of attention and the club has been linked with a plethora of talent this summer. Douglas Luiz always seemed unlikely, as did Jacob Ramsey who has since gone to Newcastle and also Jack Grealish, who is now on loan at Everton along with the Grealish sniper. 

The Hammers have recently had a £30 million bid for Southampton's Mateus Fernandes knocked back, with the Saints saying they value him at £50 million, which seems far too much for a player from a relegated side. The club has since come back with an improved offer. 

Meanwhile we seem to have had 57 varieties of bids elsewhere, with a reported £45million bid for Chelsea's Brazilian midfielder Andrey Santos. Another name in the frame is Lille's Ngal'ayel Mukau (the real Mukau?) and also Barcelona's Marc Casado, though whether he would want to leave Las Ramblas for Westfield is questionable.And now the Evening Standard adds Werder Bremen’s Romano Schmid and Lens midfielder Andy Diouf to that extensive list. While we're still waiting on Godot from Beckett FC. The pessimist in me is already thinking we won't get any of them. What is clear is that the next 11 days of the transfer window are vital to the Potter project. 

It looks like Edson Alvarez is about to be loaned to Fenerbache to free up space and Rodriguez could be going to Saudi Arabia. For all the pessimism the Irons have some classy attackers in Bowen, Fullkrug, Paqueta, Summerville and Callum Wilson. But we desperately need that midfield energy to supply them. Is it too late to put out a call on LinkedIn? Or perhaps entice Billy Bonds out of retirement?