West Ham have around £45 million left to spend this summer, according to Football.London journalist Sam Inkersole.
The Hammers completed the signing of midfielder Pablo Fornals late last week – their third signing of the summer.
And Inkersole believes that a number of first team departures should ensure that Manuel Pellegrini still has a decent wedge to work his way through during the rest of the window.
Writing in a piece for Football.London, he said: “Pellegrini was handed a transfer budget of £30m to play with this summer, a drastic reduction on the £89.5m he shelled out this time last year, to spend on new players but is allowed to spend what he can bring back to the club.
“[Including player sales and departures] There was £70m for Pellegrini to spend, taking off £25m from Fornals’ signing leaves him with £45m to spend, in theory.
“The manager and director of football Mario Husillos are still very keen to bring Maxi Gomez to the club from Celta Vigo and are hopeful of striking a cheap deal of between £25m and £30m, despite the frontman having a release clause nearer £44m.”
OPINION
This is an interesting one. First of all, the fact that the Hammers can bring in a midfielder for £25 million and still have significant cash left over shows that they the club is moving in the right direction. Those kinds of funds would have been unimaginable this time even two years ago. If player sales are taken into account, and if that £45 million figure is accurate, that in itself raises a couple of questions. Firstly, how many players does that actually buy? In the current market, you would argue that £45 million is enough for one top, top quality talent. Certainly, in January, it would have just left you enough to land Maxi Gomez. The Uruguayan still remains a priority, of course, but with Celta Vigo’s relegation, his price has fallen a fair bit. Say the Hammers have to spend £30 million to get their man. That leaves £15 million. Is £15 million enough to bring another player who would significantly improve the starting eleven? And if yes, where would Pellegrini prioritise. Whatever the answers, this summer still has a long way to go for the Hammers.
