West Ham's priority in the transfer window is to sign Celta Vigo pair Maxi Gomez and Stanislav Lobotka but that is going to blow most, if not all, of their transfer budget this summer.
The Hammers were only supposed to have £30m available for transfers this summer but that has already increased to around £40m thanks to the sales of Edimilson Fernandes and Lucas Perez to Mainz and Alaves respectively.
The club has also managed to shift £300,000 per week off the wage bill thanks to releasing first teamers Andy Carroll, Samir Nasri and goalkeeper Adrian plus selling Fernandes and Perez, which equates to £15.6m to be added to the kitty.
So it's not quite the £60m football.london understands will likely be required for Manuel Pellegrini to secure the services of Lobotka and Gomez but it's almost there. Should the club manage to shift the likes of Reece Oxford, Pedro Obiang and Jordan Hugill for the right price then the £60m will be met.
But what does that mean for the rest of the Hammers transfer window?
With little to no money left over, a move for Alexis Claude-Maurice, who is valued at £10m, is unlikely. The Lorient attacker is a target but he won't be any longer if the Hammers can't afford him.
The club has already scoured the free agent market and picked up goalkeepers Roberto and David Martin for nothing and on cheap contracts as well and expect that to be explored again, as well as the loan market.
The Hammers haven't had much success in the loan market for strikers in recent seasons, demonstrated by the signings of Jonathan Calleri and Simone Zaza which really didn't work out well at all. But you suspect Pellegrini would be able to capture a decent loan striker to act as a backup compared to those two.
It's likely the Hammers would include options to buy in those loan deals if they pan out well.
It would also put the buffers on a move for a centre half, with the club keen to bring in Guillermo Maripan from Alaves and having sold Perez the other way, could well use that relationship to broker a deal. But again, if the Hammers can't afford it then a move is unlikely to happen unless they sold one of their centre halves.
The priority for Pellegrini and director of football Mario Husillos is to secure the services of the Celta Vigo pair and then seeing where they are at and how much money they have left to play with - or if they will be given more.
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