David Moyes has admitted that West Ham may face a difficult summer transfer window in terms of securing targets who offer good value for money.
In a testament to some woeful decision-making in terms of recruitment, Roshane Thomas of The Athletic noted that the combined starting XI which faced Aston Villa in a 3-1 victory last week cost less than just two recently-exiled West Ham signings.
A combined £81m was spent on Felipe Anderson (£36m) and Sebastien Haller (£45m), with the former shipped out on loan to Porto and struggling to make the team, whilst the Hammers accepted a substantial loss on Haller in selling him to Ajax.
Such vast sums of money spent on now-disposed players is nothing short of financially untenable if West Ham are to grow as a club; and Moyes has made claims to that effect, opting for a cautious and conservative approach to transfer spending.
Tomas Soucek and Vladimir Coufal are prime examples, with the Czech duo costing little more than £20m combined and becoming firm mainstays at the London Stadium.
Moyes was clear on his attitude to the next transfer window’s spending as he outlined [via The Athletic]:
If we find more players like Coufal, then great, but this is the problem: we’ve set the expectations when you bring in the likes of Vladimir and Tomas, and it’s not that easy to do.
I want players who have longevity and I hope Jesse likes it here, I hope that we like Jesse and he thinks it’s a home for him where he can enjoy his football and thrive.
But I’m going to have to keep looking because with the recruitment here, we need to keep getting more signings right.
We’ve only really had a year of it now. There’ll be dips in it when it doesn’t go quite so well but I’m hoping that I can keep the levels up, and we’re not going to be a side that is always hovering around the bottom if I can help it.
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The effects of the global health crisis are being burdened by football clubs as much as other institutions. Consequently, only the most in-need clubs are likely to offer their assets at knockdown prices whilst buying clubs are exhibiting a reduced willingness to take transfer risks.
It should therefore come as no surprise that Sky Sports figures showed that January’s net spending in the Premier League was just £70m, down from a comparative figure of £230m last year.
Unfortunately, Moyes is correct; finding hidden gems at good value is an increasingly uphill battle.
