West Ham United are reportedly making transfer plans for January in an effort to back new manager Nuno Espírito Santo, and a former Barcelona forward is said to be on their radar heading into the winter.
West Ham make transfer plans for January to back Nuno
West Ham remain without their first win under Nuno’s tenure after drawing away to Everton and tasting defeat at the hands of Premier League title-chasers Arsenal, but there have been small signs of improvement.
Arsenal are the division’s in-form team right now and getting a result there was always going to be a tall order for Nuno, despite West Ham winning two of their previous two Premier League games at the Emirates.
There is little to go on so far, but you can make a case that West Ham look slightly less vulnerable than under Graham Potter already.
Sunderland 3-0 West Ham
West Ham 1-5 Chelsea
Nottingham Forest 0-3 West Ham
West Ham 0-3 Tottenham
West Ham 1-2 Crystal Palace
Everton 1-1 West Ham
Arsenal 2-0 West Ham
David Sullivan and the Hammers hierarchy, thanks largely to vice-chairman Karren Brady, who pushed for Nuno (Alex Crook), handed the Portuguese a three-year contract in a public statement of backing for West Ham’s new head coach.
Sullivan was in favour of re-appointing Slaven Bilic on a short-term interim contract, but with Nuno given a long-term show of faith instead, reports suggest that West Ham are prepared to back him with new recruits in January.
The consensus thus far is that the Irons are looking at attacking options, with AC Milan forward Christian Pulisic, Roma’s Lorenzo Pellegrini, Galatasaray’s Baris Yilmaz and Man United’s Joshua Zirkzee all mentioned as potential West Ham transfer targets.
It is crystal clear why they’re considering a new forward too.
Only Nottingham Forest and bottom side Wolves have scored fewer league goals than West Ham so far, and on the basis of overall play, they’re in dire need of creativity.
Adama Traoré could decide to join West Ham after Nuno's arrival
Former Barcelona and Wolves forward Adama Traoré, who worked with Nuno to great effect at Molineux, is now being linked with a move to the London Stadium after his former manager’s move there.
The Spain international, now at Fulham, has played a bit-part role under Marco Silva so far this season and could leave for free at the end of this season when his contract expires.
Despite being a regular last season, racking up nine assists in 41 appearances across all competitions, Fulham may well be open to cashing in on Traore when the winter window opens.
Speaking to Football Insider, former West Ham employee and scout Mick Brown has said that Traore could choose to reunite with Nuno in East London.
The 29-year-old’s flashes of quality were at their most consistent under Nuno, and Premier League managers have often piled praise on Traore as a very difficult player to deal with.
Klopp praised Traore yet again soon after that message, calling the winger’s speed “undefendable” at times.