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Out of every club in the Premier League, none have taken to the transfer market faster than West Ham.
Manuel Pellegrini’s side have already been busy in the window selling off the likes of Lucas Perez and Edimilson Fernandes and signing the likes of Roberto and David Martin, and more names are expected to come in this summer.
West Ham have shown they’re ready to go big this summer, so out of the players who have been reported most by the media which five have been spoken about the most, and who out of that group would actually be a worthy signing?
[snack_break title=”Guillermo Maripan”]
One of the names to be rumoured with a move to West Ham for a while is Alaves defender Guillermo Maripan. According to Chilean outlet La Cuarta, the Hammers are set to make a second bid for the 25-year-old centre-back.
Maripan is a name that Hammers fans have grown very familiar with over the past few months, and this summer could finally see the Chilean international make the move to east London.
The Alaves rock has been on impressive form this season in La Liga, and alongside the likes of Issa Diop in the West Ham XI, Pellegrini will have a sturdy defensive spine that can be built upon for years to come.
[snack_break title=”Alexis Claude-Maurice”]
West Ham are typically a side that bring in players on the older side of life, but according to Sky Sports News, the Hammers have made a bid for one of the most exciting prospects in French football, Lorient winger Alexis Claude-Maurice.
The 21-year-old attacker has had a breakout year in France this season, scoring 14 goals and assisting four in Ligue 2, and the French youngster would be a great signing for the Hammers in both the present and for the future. Claude-Maurice has all the current ability to be a good option off the bench in the Premier League, and learning under the likes of Felipe Anderson and Marko Arnautovic will only see the youngster improve his game.
West Ham landed a huge success in Diop last summer, and in Claude-Maurice, Pellegrini will have another winner on his hands if the club are able to lure the Lorient prospect to east London.
[snack_break title=”Jonjo Shelvey”]
Jonjo Shelvey is another name that West Ham are reportedly interested in this summer, with the Evening Standard reporting that the Newcastle United man is in Pellegrini sites this summer.
Shelvey, who is a lifelong West Ham fan, would be an okay signing if the club were to go in for the midfielder this summer, but if Pellegrini is to push the club towards a European spot in the Premier League, the former Liverpool playmaker won’t help the club too much.
The Hammers should be aiming for optimistic signings this summer, and Shelvey simply isn’t that. If the club are unable to sign Gomes, the Newcastle man should not be considered a plan B.
[snack_break title=”Aleksandar Mitrovic”]
With Perez and Andy Carroll gone, West Ham are in need of a striker this summer, and what better option to have than Fulham man Aleksandar Mitrovic, who the Evening Standard claim is a player Pellegrini is interested in this summer.
The Serbian striker has been a Premier League fan favourite for some time with his care-free attitude and consistent goal-scoring threat, and at West Ham, the former Newcastle man could be the perfect forward for the club.
[snack_break title=”Isaac Hayden”]
Following from the same report that linked Shelvey with a move to West Ham, Isaac Hayden is also reportedly on the Hammers watch list this summer as the former Arsenal academy man looks to make a move away from Newcastle this window.
More a defensive midfielder than a deep-lying playmaker, Hayden will shore up the midfield alongside Declan Rice and add an important layer of defence to a midfield that has seen many goals leak this past season.
West Ham were defensively poor all season, and although they have a defensive midfielder superstar in Rice, it wouldn’t hurt to have a second option in midfield for added comfort in front of the defence.
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