David Moyes has said he wants to be challenging the top seven in the Premier League next season having only just secured survival in 2019/20.
It is quite the claim from the Hammers manager who managed to steer the side to safety in the penultimate game of the campaign thanks to a 1-1 draw against Manchester United.
The Hammers were pretty much safe after beating Watford 3-1 at London Stadium four days previously thanks to their superior goal difference but had to wait until the next midweek to mathematically secure it.
Moyes was parachuted in to rescue the Hammers for a second time when he replaced Manuel Pellegrini in September and the signs were ominous heading into lockdown and the first two games back as the team dropped into the relegation zone.
However, just one defeat in their final seven games of the season preserved the Hammers’ status for another season and hope that in 2020/21, which gets underway in just five weeks time, another relegation battle will not be the order of the day.
Moyes is looking to recruit for his defence this summer but is being strangled by a very limited budget and will have to sell to buy as some of his attacking midfielders face uncertain futures in east London.
The manager wants to get West Ham in the Europa League as a target but prefixed that with a warning: “I want to challenge for the Europa League,” he said.
“I can’t promise that though, and I don’t want to promise West Ham supporters something that I can’t deliver. But I want to give them hope that that’s where I’m trying to get to. I’ve been there before, and it can’t happen overnight.”
Moyes’ mantra in the latter stages of last season was to promise less and deliver more, something he is seemingly trying to do once again heading into 2020/21.
West Ham have been linked with moves for Championship defenders Ryan Manning, Antonee Robinson and Matty Cash to bolster the full back ranks while also bringing in a homegrown, experienced centre half to provide competition to Issa Diop and Angelo Ogbonna, with Fabian Balbuena seemingly not favoured by the manager.
Moyes added that there was one requirement he wants from any new recruits, something that has certainly been lacking in some of the recent buys from Manuel Pellegrini and former director of football Mario Husillos prior to Moyes’ arrival.
The Hammers manager, who wants to bring in a new head of recruitment to give him a hand in the transfer market, added: “We’ve got the likes of Mark Noble, Declan Rice, Aaron Cresswell who understand West Ham and who have been here a long time, so you have to think about bringing people in for the long term.
“We are trying to bring in a younger group. We have the makings of a young group and I think if we can keep adding to that that’ll be good, but we want them to be good players and want them to be players who can come in and help us but we are also not neglecting our most senior players.
“Central defenders, for example, are often a bit better when they’re more experienced. So, we will just need to see what comes at the right time for us.”
