West Ham United endured a wretched season.
For a club that spent over £100m last summer, there was heaps of expectation. However, it all came crashing down when they finished 16th in the Premier League table.
Manuel Pellegrini received the sack and with him went Director of Football Mario Husillos.
It really has been a turbulent time for the Hammers, who really didn't improve under David Moyes.
On paper, the Irons should be a club in and around mid-table. They have players in Sebastien Haller and Pablo Fornals who should have had enough to lift them to those areas of the top-flight.
However, after signing last summer, they scored only nine goals between them. Had they hit the ground running, West Ham surely wouldn't have been in relegation trouble.
Those additions have now had time to settle in, as has Jarrod Bowen, the £20m acquisition they made in January.
Thus, they should be in a better place come next season.
Another area of concern was in defence. Issa Diop looked a shadow of his former self, making errors on a regular basis and his partnership with Angelo Ogbonna never looked too comfortable - conceding 67 times, the second-highest in the league.
To combat that, Moyes is targeting a move for Manchester City defender John Stones.
That's according to The Sun who suggest a £20m switch could be on the cards.
West Ham will have to battle Arsenal for the defender who could be on his way out after the Citizens had a bid for Bournemouth's Nathan Ake accepted.
GIVEMESPORT'S Matt Dawson says...
If Stones can overcome his injury problems then he'd be a marvellous capture for a club of West Ham's stature.
The 26-year-old was absent for 12 matches in 2019/20 and struggled to really get a run in the City side. Like Diop, he is a player in freefall, but there's certainly a player to be found.
He was once described as the "England's most stylish defender since Rio Ferdinand" by The Guardian's Andy Hunter, who also claimed he was a "rare talent." Meanwhile, it's difficult to ignore comparisons made to Jerome Boateng and Franz Beckenbauer.
With a pass completion rate of 94.2%, he is the perfect modern centre-half, possessing the ability to win 2.8 aerial duels per match.
In comparison to the other defenders at the London Stadium, no one even comes close to his ability to play a pass. That might not be at the top of the list for a defender's priorities, but he'd certainly add a measure of reassurance to the Hammers' backline.
At £20m, too, you can't go too wrong. In this instance, Stones would probably be worth the gamble.