As Manuel Pellegrini walked through the door at the London Stadium, West Ham fans would have been cautiously optimistic. The manager was in place, but would the board back him with the cash? Spoiler alert: they did.
See how we rated West Ham’s summer transfer business.
Arrivals
Longing for a marquee signing for a few years now, the arrival of Felipe Anderson at the London Stadium will have shown the Hammers faithful that change was afoot in the east of the capital, as the club forked out £34 million for the 25-year-old.
Not content with one winger, the club then went out and poached Andriy Yarmolenko from Borussia Dortmund, the Ukrainian joining for a fee £18 million.
Keen to get stronger defensively, the Irons also added youthful centre-half Issa Diop, and grabbed the more experienced Fabian Balbuena to likely partner him in the heart of the back four.
The veteran goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski joined from Swansea for £7 million, hopefully bringing an end to West Ham’s recent goalkeeping woes.
In the midfield, Carlos Sanchez of World Cup red card fame was brought in from Fiorentina, and will stake an immediate claim to one of the defensive midfield positions. Up the pitch, Jack Wilshere’s free transfer stands up as one of the savviest pieces of business by any team this window, with the Englishman ready to show his trademark creativity in the claret shirt.
Right-back Ryan Fredericks was another free agent acquisition, and after his role in Fulham’s promotion-bound team, could be a day one starter for Pellegrini.
Deadline day saw West Ham announce Lucas Perez from Arsenal, the striker being a gloriously low risk signing at 29-years-of-age. A fee of £3 million means the bar is set low for the Spaniard, and even a few goals would go some way to justifying the move.
Departures
Midfielder Cheikhou Kouyate headed out the door, bound for Crystal Palace for a price of £9.5 million. Youngsters Reece Burke and Domingos Quina were also sold, to Hull City and Watford respectively.
Loan chances came for forward Jordan Hugill at Middlesbrough and winger Sead Haksabanovic at Malaga.
What more could have been done?
The signing of Perez meant West Ham would leave the transfer window having signed a player in every position bar left-back, and as such, almost nothing more could have been done by this incredibly busy recruitment team.
Final Grade: A+
I must admit, West Ham have had my favourite window out of any other Premier League team. The commitment from the board to back their manager with an influx of talented personnel has been great to see, and I will look forward to watching the Hammers this season.
