West Ham United did not enjoy the busiest summer transfer window.
The Hammers came alive in market’s final days but their window was characterised by inactivity.
They let a number of players leave; Grady Diangana, Albian Ajeti, Jordan Hugill, Josh Cullen, Roberto, Felipe Anderson, Xande Silva, Jack Wilshere, Carlos Sanchez and Pablo Zabaleta all departed on various deals.
They did bring in Tomas Soucek on a permanent deal from Slavia Prague and also signed Vladimir Coufal from the Czech club; the other arrivals were Said Benrahma on an initial loan from Brentford, though the Irons do hold an obligation to buy him permanently, and Craig Dawson on loan from Watford.
It is notable that two strikers departed in Hugill and Ajeti and that no forward was brought in to replace them.
But it appears the Irons did try.
Sport Witness carries a report from AS claiming that the club attempted to sign Martin Braithwaite from Barcelona.
The Camp Nou club signed Braithwaite from Leganes in February but he has made just 16 appearances for them since his arrival.
Those games have brought just one goal, but it seems that the Hammers were ready to bring him to the Premier League.
Barca wanted to recoup a large amount of the £15m they paid to sign him, and the report claims that the Hammers were close to doing a deal, only for it to collapse at the eleventh hour.
No reason is given for why the deal fell apart but, as mentioned, the Hammers ended the summer without bringing in a new striker.
GIVEMESPORT’S Harry Sherlock says…
This is a lucky escape for West Ham.
Admittedly, they could have done with some depth in their forward line, as they are currently relying on both Sebastien Haller and Michail Antonio.
The latter is currently injured, sharpening the focus on the lack of striking options, but Braithwaite simply isn’t good enough.
He has not hit double figures in a single league season since 2016/17, when he scored 11 goals for Toulouse in Ligue 1.
It should be mentioned, too, that he has played in England before and did not exactly light up the Championship; in 36 games for Middlesbrough he scored eight goals. That’s a goal every 0.2 games.
Consider this a bullet dodged.