OPINION
With the transfer window having slammed shut for West Ham United and Premier League clubs, the only possible options that remain for teams to strengthen are free-agent deals.
That would mean that with European clubs having until September 2nd to complete their deals, Premier League sides will want to keep a hold of the majority of their squads.
West Ham could fall victim to the changed transfer windows this season, with the Daily Mail reporting that forward Javier Hernandez is on the verge of completing a move to Sevilla after handing in a transfer request.
The newspaper claimed on their website that the 31-year-old has asked to leave after a £7million offer was submitted by the La Liga club.
A move could certainly happen for the Mexican, but Spanish outlet Marca recently reported that the switch could be in jeopardy after the long-term injury picked up by Michail Antonio in midweek.
Reliable club source, ExWHUemployee, backed up that news on Saturday during a transfer update but also claimed that the move is still more than likely if the two clubs agree to a price.
Writing on his personal Twitter account, ExWHUemployee went on to claim that the club could look to sign a free-agent forward on a short-term deal should Hernandez leave before Monday’s European deadline.
Should Hernandez leave the London Stadium, Pellegrini could live to regret his decision at the beginning of pre-season to release Premier League veteran, Andy Carroll.
The Newcastle United summer signing has been plagued with injuries throughout his career – having missed 151 games through injury during his seven years in East London [Transfermarkt].
Despite that fact, Carroll was still one of the better Premier League forward free-agents available in the summer, and also signed a deal worth only £20,000-a-week at the Magpies [Times] – something that could have suited West Ham perfectly right now.
After all, the 30-year-old has 211 games of Premier League experience under his belt and has been involved in 78 goals, 53 of those being from himself, and any club would find it hard to sign a player of that calibre on a free-deal.
The answer could have been sitting on Pellegrini’s doorstep in the form of Carroll, and the Chilean could surely live to regret his summer decision to release the forward just months ago.
