West Ham’s move for James Ward-Prowse is on the brink of falling apart because the club’s new technical director, Tim Steidten, opposes David Moyes’s attempts to sign the Southampton midfielder.
Tension has grown between Moyes and Steidten, who was appointed last month, and West Ham are yet to make any signings. They want two midfielders after the £105m sale of Declan Rice to Arsenal and have had three bids for Ward-Prowse turned down.
Southampton want about £40m for their captain but West Ham have not gone above £30m. Steidten has been looking for cheaper players in Europe and is understood to be blocking higher bids for Ward-Prowse. The midfielder is a key target for Moyes, who wants players with Premier League experience, but West Ham do not want to pay over the odds for the 28-year-old.
There remains a possibility of Moyes convincing West Ham to reach a compromise with Southampton. They could offer the midfielder Flynn Downes to Southampton as part of a deal for Ward-Prowse. At the moment, however, talks have stalled.
West Ham have also made unsuccessful attempts to sign Fulham’s João Palhinha and Chelsea’s Conor Gallagher, and were quoted £45m by Manchester United for Scott McTominay. They are considering whether to revive their interest in Ajax’s Edson Álvarez and have scouted Monaco’s Youssouf Fofana. Moyes is understood to be unsure on a move for Fofana, a Steidten pick.
The situation at West Ham has been described as a mess by several insiders. They risk damaging the goodwill generated by their triumph in the Europa Conference League and the failure to strengthen has led to renewed doubts over Moyes’s future. Moyes came close to being sacked on several occasions last season, only for the board to stick by him.
The manager will be under pressure if West Ham make a slow start. The failure to replace Rice has exposed weaknesses in the transfer market and there is growing frustration within the club. Moyes has also been looking for a central defender and wants West Ham to sign United’s Harry Maguire. United rejected a £20m bid for Maguire last week.
West Ham are also looking for a left winger and want an upgrade at left-back on Aaron Cresswell, whose move to Wolves has broken down. West Ham regard Adrien Truffert as a potential replacement for the 33-year-old but the Rennes left-back could join a bigger club.
Moyes also has problems up front, with Internazionale pushing to sign Gianluca Scamacca and Michail Antonio the subject of interest from Everton and Al-Ettifaq. West Ham are interested in Chelsea’s Armando Broja and Arsenal’s Folarin Balogun.
