David Moyes has revealed he is hopeful for some movement on the transfer front next week after admitting he has offers in on a “couple” of players.
The Hammers have endured a very public pursuit of Burnley centre back James Tarkwoski which has yet to bear fruit and football.london understands the club is set to lodge another bid for the player.
The Clarets are reportedly holding out for £40million for their England international that Moyes wants to bring to the capital.
Defence is the key area that the manager is looking to recruit for, it has been all summer, yet has found himself frustrated in the market so far with the transfer window closing on October 5.
Speaking at a press conference ahead of Saturday’s match against Arsenal, the manager said: “I think we are edging towards it [making progress]
“Behind the scenes we have a couple of offers in on different players so I hope that we might have some news next week some time. We want to bring in players that will give us a good balance to the squad.
“We also want to think clearly to get the right ones and that we do the right thing.”
Moyes once again reiterated the imbalance he has in his squad. The manager has a plethora of attacking options but is short in defence, demonstrated with first choice centre back Issa Diop playing 90 minutes against Charlton Athletic in midweek in the Carabao Cup.
Moyes had been hoping to shift on some of his more attack-minded players during the window but hasn’t been able to apart from Grady Diangana, who he was reluctant to part with.
The academy graduate joined West Bromwich Albion for £18million in a move that caused uproar among the fanbase as the winger was allowed to leave the club despite not wanting to.
The manager also revealed he could use Declan Rice as a centre back. The reigning Hammer of the Year has excelled as a defensive midfielder having come through the ranks in east London as a centre half.
“We have an imbalance, we have an awful lot of wide players who can play upfront or midfield and less defenders to choose from,” Moyes admitted.
“We lost Jeremy Ngakia, Pablo Zabaleta and Winston Reid so we are short in those areas. We are trying to bring defenders in but I also have the option of using Declan Rice at centre back so I could bring in a midfielder to free up the option of playing Declan in defence.”
