West Ham United will use the potential sales of Jordan Hugill and Pedro Obiang to strengthen their squad, according to ExWHUemployee.
The reliable club source claims that any sale will lead to the Hammers looking to reinvest but not at a massive cost, despite Claret and Hugh claiming Manuel Pellegrini was happy with his squad.
ExWHUemployee reported the news on his personal Twitter account and shut down rumours of a potential signing after France Football suggested Pellegrini was interested in Monaco full-back Djibril Sidibe.
Keep getting asked but said a day or so ago there was no interest at this point, same for the other linked french players. Obiang will do his medical tomorrow and then the cash from him and Hugill if he accepts a club will be used for squad strengthening but not at a huge cost ⚒ https://t.co/M4F8IVEvP8
— ExWHUEmployee (@ExWHUEmployee) July 23, 2019
Spaniard Obiang is expected to complete a move to Sassuolo by the end of the week, with Gianluca Di Marzio posting pictures of his arrival in Italy on Tuesday evening.
OPINION
This was desperately needed at the London Stadium with West Ham’s squad screaming out for just a couple more arrivals before the end of the transfer window. Pellegrini has done well to get rid of some of the club’s higher earners in Andy Carroll, Samir Nasri, and Marko Arnautovic – and has replaced them superbly with the likes of Pablo Fornals and Sebastien Haller. Having said that, Claret and Hugh did report that the club had made an annual saving of just over £15million from wages alone in these deals, which is surely enough for another signing. Apparently not, but with the added sale of Obiang and possibly Hugill, that money must be put to good use. With Obiang’s departure, the Hammers are lacking in defensive options in midfield, with Carlos Sanchez now the back up to both Mark Noble and Declan Rice. The Colombian isn’t good enough for that role and is too injury prone to make an impact at the London Stadium, having missed 215 days and 34 games of last season [Source: Transfermarkt]. With cheap options looking like the way forward, Pellegrini must be smart with who he looks to bring in this summer.
