The January transfer window has been a slow one at the London Stadium with West Ham yet to make any major moves in the market.
This is despite the fact that Hammers manager David Moyes has admitted there are areas of his squad he would like to strengthen and that West Ham have been looking at potential targets.
Over the course of January Moyes has repeatedly said he is looking to bring players in but only if they are the right ones.
"We could probably do with some more cover after Angelo Ogbonna's season-long injury. If I can get Kurt back quickly that eases the pressure in central defensive areas. But we are always looking to strengthen here, we are always looking to find players who can help us or improve us," Moyes said.
"We would like to add to the squad if we can, if we can find players who we think are more suitable we could do with some more back up if we can but there is never a guarantee in January with the players you want or if the right ones are available or gettable. But we are certainly looking around."
Michail Antonio is West Ham's only senior recognised striker and even the Jamaican international has admitted he would like some competition for his spot in the team.
"One thing that we definitely need is a striker, and the crazy thing is I’m the striker, so somebody is going to come in and try to take my spot," Antonio said on the Footballer’s Football Podcast. "But I like a challenge, I like having someone there pushing me."
Moyes agrees with Antonio and said he has been looking for another striker to join him in the squad. "We've been trying probably to get someone who we think can give us competition for Mic for two years," he said.
"It's certainly not an easy thing to do, buying a centre-forward. This club has probably brought in more centre-forwards than anybody, many of them expensive and it has been hard to get them to work. I want to bring players in, I want to add to it but I'm not going to do it for the sake of it."
Listening to the manager over the past few weeks it is clear he would like to strengthen in both defence and attack but so far the Hammers are yet to add to their squad, however, this is not through a lack of effort according to Moyes.
"I would like to bring some new faces in if I could to add to the group of players I have got. But we will try and do it as well as we can," Moyes said. "At the moment the ones we are looking for or the ones we would like to get are either not available or we just can't get. We will keep looking and see what we can get between now and the end of the window."
The manager has even admitted he would be prepared to use the loan market if necessary but reiterated his stance that he will not settle for players he does not think will improve his squad.
"Yes [I would loan players], but I do not like the word extra bodies, because extra bodies end up not being good enough. You want to bring in bodies who are good enough to have an impact on the team," he said. "Extra bodies don't count for anything, it is like a sugar rush but eventually, it wears off. You are better off trying to get the right players and if not sticking with what you have got. The players have done a brilliant job but today was just a little too much to ask them to go again at the end of this week."
The current situation at West Ham is much the same as it was in previous transfer windows. Since the departure of Sebastien Haller on January 8, 2021 the club are searching for a replacement to challenge and offer support to Antonio.
As yet no suitable and realistic candidate has emerged and the Hammers have one week left to get a deal over the line or face a tough end to the season relying solely on Antonio to lead the line.
Moyes is well aware of the need for a striker with the manager saying after the defeat to Manchester United: "We have been trying for a couple of years to add a striker to the group but we have not been able to. We have had quite a few offers for players at different times that have not been accepted or we could not get or [they] have been too expensive," he said.
"So it is not for the want of trying and not like we are not seeing the same things that others are seeing. It is trying to get in players that I think can help us and make a difference but we will continue trying to look. With a week or so to go [in the transfer window] we will keep looking."
He added: "I think that we will try hard to make them [signings] but I cannot say one way or the other, we will see. We will work hard to add to what we have got but I can't give any guarantees that will happen."
Kurt Zouma's return to action at Old Trafford makes the recruitment of another defender less of a priority than it was at the start of the month, however, with Angelo Ogbonna out for the remainder of the season West Ham are only one injury away from having just two fit senior centre-backs. Therefore a move for a defender is likely to come this week with Nat Phillips of Liverpool a name strongly linked to a move to east London.
