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FIVE players West Ham should’ve signed in the transfer window

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Ashley ColeWith the closing of the transfer window last night, clubs are left to rue missed opportunities whilst fans are left dreaming of what might have been.

All the business has been done, and it is down to the assembled squads to prove their worth between now and the New Year.

And following West Ham’s indifferent start to the season, there certainly remains room for improvement.

Although the club has had one of its best windows in recent years, there are some gaps that should have been addressed.

Here are five players the club arguably should have tried harder to sign:

Timothee Kolodziejczak

Options in the left-back position still seem thin on the ground, and fans will be hoping Aaron Creswell adjusts to the top flight quickly.

One player heavily linked was 22-year-old Kolodziejczak, who was rumoured to be in advanced talks with the club.

He has since moved to Sevilla on a four-year contract.

Ashley Cole

Arguably one of the most successful left-backs of the modern game, Cole was briefly linked with what was probably a speculative move at best.

After being released by Chelsea, the 33-year-old defender made no rush of choosing next team, leading to rumours West Ham may be interested in giving him Premier League lifeline.

There’s no doubt Cole would have been an assured and reliable option in defence, but wage demands may have rendered the move a no-go from the start.

He moved to Serie A side AS Roma.

Joleon Lescott

Going into the final day of the transfer window, it was still widely publicised West Ham were short of a central defender.

At 32, the England international would have brought experience to the back line, and provided greater competition for places.

The club was said to be interested in bringing him in on a deal from Manchester City earlier in the year. He decided to see out the 2013/14 seasons with the eventual champions before moving to West Bromwich Albion in June.

Wilfried Zaha

Twice capped England winger Zaha has reportedly been on West Ham’s radar since failing to establish himself following his move to Manchester United.

A pacey attacking player, the 21-year-old would have provided greater competition on the wings.

The fact he has been allowed to go out on loan proves he was available to clubs, but his decision to re-join Crystal Palace may have been lead by his heart, rather than footballing reasons.

Loic Remy

Already a proven goal scorer at the top level, Remy would have been an ideal foil to any of the ‘target man’ centre forwards already at the club.

The continued speculation he was unsettled at QPR, and after spending last season on loan at Newcastle United, it was felt he may be open to offers, with West Ham ready to give him first team football in London.

It is unlikely a firm bid was ever put in for the 27-year-old however, and he has opted to move to Chelsea in a£10.5m deal.

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11 comments

  • chey says:

    You do realise that Cole signed for Roma, Lescott for West brom and Remy for Chelsea?

  • Michael Houston says:

    I agree with Kolo and Zaha but the rest? No. Huge wages are not worth it imo. Andy Carroll has been very average for us yet he costs us over 70k a week I’m sure.

    Players that I would have included:
    Daryl Janmaat – I know we were never linked with him, but RB is arguably the weakest part of our team and he would have cost around 5m.
    Tiago Illori – Think he would’ve been good cover for Reid and Tomkins plus he’s young (on loan)
    A better CM than Almafintano – He looks ok, but I’ve got a feeling he’ll flop. Hope I’m wrong (what did he cost us btw?)

  • punkrockhammer says:

    Kolodziejczak – We have Cresswell, Potts and JoB that can play that position. Hardly a priority
    Cole – See above, plus we have a new policy of not buying ageing players looking for a last payday and no sell on value
    Lescott – Already injured and past his best, although better than Collins and can cover leftback. Wouldn’t have been sorry to see him arrive on reasonable wages
    Zaha – No f@cking thank you
    Remy – Not a chance in hell of signing him even if we wanted to, hence the Liverpool and Chelsea bids

    I’m not sure how anyone can really complain about our buisness this window tbh, apart from not offing RvT and bringing in a CB. Missed the boat with Toby Whatshisname going to Saints

  • peter says:

    A central defender would have helped, and
    l don’t mean Lescott.

  • Davethecorkhammer says:

    It’s the best collective transfer window for us in many along year.the next thing is tie Reid down on a new contract,hope they do not let it drag on to long as he won’t be short on offers and I think he is free to speak to clubs after Xmas.

  • Deadhead says:

    I am more than happy with the business this transfer window I would have liked a central defender but we now have Song and Kouyate who can play at CB if the need arises.I think we will possibly get a central defender in January. In my opinion we have got the makings of a very good squad with competition in all areas. COYI

  • COYI247 says:

    I was at the Soton game and was gobsmacked at the lack of leadership. I feel Nolan has been almost a passenger apart from a few games last season when he sparked to life (and scvored vital goals). So I was hoping that this was the big break for Zarate…and he just was not that good…and a liability in terms of fouls/cheating. I just hope he does come good, as I think he could do the business. Noble, Kouyate + Zarate seem like a dream choice. (As would Morrison, if he was not such a complete idiot off the pitch!). Maybe they will be.
    BUT we didn’t need any more midfielders without FIRST getting in a good centre half. Why did we not sort that before buying Song + Amalfitano? NOTE: Lescot has been packed off to USA boot camp to get fit…Man City screw up a lot of non 1st team players; look how long it has taken Steve Ireland + Johnson to try to resurrect their carreers.
    I was there for the4 home game v Newcastle where we did not have 1 centre half on the pitch! Poor Matt Taylor did his best – we lost 3-1. Not to have got in another centre half could cost us dearly. Perhaps Kouyate/Academy will have to be the reserve. We MUST tie down Reid! How come Arsenal did not poach him? They have been threatening for a year now; are thye just trying to unsettle him/Hammers? He’s done THAT before!
    We have plenty of midfielders + strikers with good promise; Loic Remy WOULD have been nice, but hey, it was never going to happen in practice. Overall, I am v happy with thhe transfers in apart from the gaping hole described. Why did we not get Toby Alderweireld (who went to Soton)? So, in summary, I disagree with all of the 5 players you think we should have signed.

    • Johnny Mac says:

      I’d like to say that the game v Saints was probably our worst performance since the 3-1 loss at home to Newcastle, and in fact this performance on Saturday was even worse than the game v Newcastle as we should have lost by more than 3-1. I mean, when Sam gets his game plan wrong he gets it really wrong eh, and in the post match interview and after West Ham had at that point signed 8 new players, Sam blames injuries (never his pre match build up failure to get the team firing for the game) & that West Ham are missing the players out injured. He is just so stuck in his rut of all his old favourites that he couldn’t sort out a good team after all of these signings. I mean why were they signed? Sam can’t see past his old faithfull some of whom are now way behind the talent of these new signings. Is Sam still going to play people like Joey O’Brien when he has all this new talent who are way ahead in talent of the likes of O’Brien. Are you sure you are not a stubborn Yorkshireman Sam? Thick in mind & thick in head? If he can’t use the quality of these new signings then get someone in to manage who can? Could you imagine West Ham playing in Europe with such a stubborn old fashioned Anglo Phoebic mind as Sam has. European clubs are light years ahead in thinking of what we have with how West Ham are now run. Never used to be as we set the pace for other English clubs to follow with our clever European style footbal that won us the European Cup Winners Cup in 1965. I don’t know if we’ll ever return to that level under Sam.

      • wolfie says:

        In 1965 football was less about money and more about innovation,the way the Prem is these days we will almost certainly never enter a European Comp again unless we qualify through,this season anyway,being the losing FA Cup finalists.I think we should have strengthened the FB positions as JoB is quite injury prone ,if A Cresswell is unable to play and JoB is out we are in trouble.
        Attacking wise though this has been a good window the 2 Daves have given BFS their full backing only got himself to blame if it all goes wrong.

        • Johnny Mac says:

          Hey Wolfie, on a positive note, if Sam can get these new signings to gel as a solid team unit, then there is definitely the potential there for a top 6 finish there. I mean I remember Song finishing us off for Arsenal in the closing minutes of a game not too long ago, and the quality of that Zarate goal against Palace was world class, even C Cole must still have it somewhere, you remember that goal Cole scored against Stoke when we won 2-1 at Upton Park in 2009, when Cole, with his back to the goal must have swivelled about 270% to fire in a shot that brought us level at 1-1. I mean individually the talent of these players is there, they just need gelling into a tight unit. OK, if JoB is out, no bother, but Cresswell is brilliant, if he were out with Job? well Demel was in every one of those 4 consecutive games where we kept clean sheets, and Reid, when he regains form, with Demel should solve any potential crisis there. No, there are 25 really good to fair players in this squad. We now have a lot more good players than a lot of other Prem teams have. With this increase in squad numbers Sam needs to really scrutinize them all thoroughly. I mean Sam needs to put in overtime and many many hours to analyse everyones strengths (and weaknesses) over the coming weeks, months, because if he can get it right, well with the right manager, and the players in this squad now has, well these players definitely have the potential to take any team into a top 6 finish, but it’s when a club is in Europe, as Steve Bruce found out, that once in, getting anywhere is another story. West Ham have spent the money, I mean how much of the £835 million spent was West Ham’s? anyone know? but yes, sadly, it is all about money now & West Ham have spent, put it this way, I’d be very surprised if we don’t get at least a top half finish!

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