West Ham finally got a signing over the line on Friday.

After a summer of inactivity and PR disasters, the Hammers managed to bring in Vladimir Coufal from Slavia Prague.

He is a right-back, a player who has been a team-mate of midfielder Tomas Soucek at both club and international level – they both play for the Czech Republic – and he will compete with Ben Johnson and Ryan Fredericks for the berth on the side of David Moyes’ defence.

Coufal has signed a three-year contract after the Irons agreed a fee of £5.4m for the defender, but there is likely to be disappointment over further acquisitions.

Of course, the Irons are still trying to strengthen the squad, but it appears their pursuit of Hans Vanaken, the Club Brugge midfielder is doomed.

Sport Witness carries a report from Het Belang van Limburg, a Belgian outlet, claiming that there are a number of reasons why Vanaken will not be moving to east London.

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West Ham have tabled a bid of €16m (£14.4m) for the player, but he is deemed “irreplaceable” by Brugge, who are not in a position where they need to cash in.

Vanaken is also said to have decided that if he is to leave Brugge, he will only join a club who are aiming to win trophies.

The Hammers are clearly not that sort of club.

GIVEMESPORT’S Harry Sherlock says…

West Ham need to move on from this quickly.

Vanaken is an attacking midfielder so one has to question the wisdom of the pursuit in the first place.

The Hammers really need to sign a defender as they look to strengthen Moyes’ squad but attacking midfield simply isn’t in need of that level of reinforcement.

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Committing over £14m to Vanaken’s signing would have been a folly.

He is a good player; he already has four goals and two assists in seven games this season, but this could well be a blessing in disguise for West Ham.

They should be aiming for a defender instead over the weekend.