David Gold has spoken of the ‘failed’ recruitment drive of last summer that saw his side dragged into a relegation dogfight for much of last season.
Speaking in an exclusive interview with TalkSport, Gold admitted that the signings made last summer hadn’t worked and that the club need to bring in “proven Premier League” players this time around.
“We have tried the route of going overseas to bring in players – that hasn’t worked. We had a very difficult season because players we brought in from Europe didn’t make the grade and we paid the price. We struggled.” said Gold, before adding: “We were actually flirting for some time with relegation because we couldn’t score goals.”
The club signed forward’s Simeone Zaza and Jonathan Calleri last summer from Juventus and Maldonado respectively, however both failed to deliver and have since left the club. Wingers Gokhan Tore and Sofiane Feghouli also joined from European clubs and too struggled to make their mark at the London Stadium.
“That is why we have got to bring in players with Premier League experience and that is what we are working on now. David Sullivan is working day and night in an effort to solve this problem.”
West Ham have been heavily linked with Arsenal forwards Olivier Giroud and Theo Walcott this summer, but moves are yet to materialise.
