New Hammers boss Graham Potter has joined West Ham at the right time if he wants to make changes to his squad.
West Ham had already made it clear they intend to be active in the January transfer window.
That was before Julen Lopetegui was sacked and replaced with Graham Potter this week.
The club’s owners told Hammers News recently that West Ham are close to their PSR limit and may have to sell to buy or seek fresh investment.
West Ham are also looking to use the loan market.
A number of players have been linked with departures including Guido Rodriguez, Vladimir Coufal, Edson Alvarez, Niclas Fullkrug and Mohammed Kudus.
A striker and midfielder are top of the agenda for the Hammers.
The focus this week has clearly been on the management situation.
With majority owner David Sullivan taking back ultimate control of recruitment, Tim Steidten now has a diluted say on transfers.
Given talks between West Ham and Potter have been ongoing in the background for some time, it is safe to assume the possibility of January transfers has been discussed at length.
Potter’s first West Ham transfer update is exciting
The new boss says he is already aware of the squad West Ham have and is looking forward to ‘looking under the bonnet’.
Potter has now issued his first West Ham transfer update and it is exciting – but Fullkrug could leave to pay for it.
Speaking to the written media in his first press conference, Potter says West Ham will have the resources to make signings ‘if the right players, characters and deals’ are there to be done.
“I think in every window there’s always a responsibility for the club to look and to see if there’s anything that can help us in terms of whether that’s short term, medium term, long term. That’s normal,” Potter told the written press, as reported by The Telegraph.
“Every club in the world is in that position. The challenge for us is to make some quick decisions and to learn around what we have, what the strengths of the players are, how we can support them, if we can.
“Yeah, I would think so (there are resources to do deals). But there’s a lot of ifs there – if the right opportunity comes up, the right person, the right player, at the right price. There’s lots of ifs.”
Fullkrug may pay for Hammers incomings as Frankfurt circle
One big if is the sale of certain players in order to raise funds.
It was reported by top Hammers insider Sean Whetstone that German striker Fullkrug is unsettled in England and wants to leave West Ham in January.
The forward, who spent virtually all of his first three months at the club out injured, cost £26.5m in the summer.
Fullkrug gave an X-rated take on his ‘risky and catastrophic’ move to West Ham last month.
The Hammers striker has been heavily linked with a move to Juventus in recent weeks.
It’s been claimed West Ham will sell Fullkrug if they recoup their initial outlay.
And this evening Sky Sports Germany journalist Florian Plettenberg – who counts Steidten and Fullkrug among his close contacts – claims West Ham’s European foes Eintracht Frankfurt want the striker.
In an exclusive, Plettenberg said Frankfurt are ‘closely monitoring Fullkrug’s situation’.
“He is on their shortlist and a concrete candidate should Omar Marmoush move to Manchester City,” Plettenberg said.
“The 31 y/o German international will also remain on SGE’s radar for the summer.”
In an ideal world, West Ham would keep Fullkrug and bring in a different, more dynamic and pacy striker to compete with him.
However if the reality is that West Ham – and Potter – have to sell Fullkrug in order to bring in an exciting, younger talent, then so be it.
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