It will be no surprise to many that the dithering Hammers may miss out on a key transfer target.
Aston Villa will look to steal Hammers target Joao Palhinha as they seek to tie up their transfer business early. West Ham by contrast still haven’t confirmed a director football or clarified manager David Moyes future.
As a result, the Hammers may well find it difficult to secure their transfer targets early in the window. Tough tackling Palhinha has been identified as a potential replacement for Rice, but they’ll have go move quickly.
The Hammers will want to mitigate Rice heading out of the door by signing a good replacement. It’s been widely reported that Fulham’s. Palhinha is one of the players they’re most keen on.
Villa’s lure will be similar to West Ham’s, given they finished seven places above them in the league. The Villans’ seventh-placed finish secured Europa Conference League football for next season, but the Hammers’ triumph in that same competition means we’ll be playing Europa League football.
Hammers must not dither
To be honest there is not an awful lot to separate the suitors but West Ham can’t afford to delay. The Midlands club have already secured the signing of Youri Tielemans from Leicester.
This predictably irritating situation is typical West Ham. Why the club haven’t got the recruitment structure in place BEFORE the end of the season is baffling. I completely understand the desire to replace the current system, but we’ve given our rivals a head-start.
I have no particular preference for Palhinha over anyone else, but someone at the club clearly rates him highly. The Fulham player completed the most tackles in the Premier League last season and accumulated the most cards.
If West Ham want the player then we’ll need to conclude the deal quickly. Aston Villa or any other interested parties are not going to wait around for us to get our house in order.