In January, West Ham said no to two transfer offers that might have helped them avoid relegation.
There’s a good case that West Ham might have avoided dropping out of the Premier League if they had signed two in-form players during the January transfer window.
Even though they won 3-0 against Leeds United on the last day, West Ham still got relegated because Tottenham beat Everton and stayed up by two points.
It was a tough season for the Hammers. They finished with a goal difference of -19, which was the fourth worst in the league, after conceding 65 goals in 38 games. Not signing a centre-back last summer really hurt them, and they didn’t bring in Axel Disasi from Chelsea on loan until the very last day of the January window, for £1.7 million.
They also struggled to score goals, especially early on. Fans were hopeful when they signed Pablo Felipe from Portuguese club Gil Vicente for £21 million, but the Brazilian hasn’t scored yet.
After the season ended, The Guardian reported that West Ham had turned down a chance to sign Brazilian forward Rayan, who just got called up to Brazil’s World Cup squad. The 19-year-old joined Bournemouth from Vasco da Gama for £24.7 million and has been brilliant, scoring five goals and making two assists in the Premier League.
West Ham also didn’t try to bring in Newcastle’s William Osula on loan in January, even though he’s been impressive lately. Since the March international break, Osula has scored six goals in eight games and has the best goals-per-minute ratio in the league. Aston Villa is now trying to sign this Danish player, according to Football Insider.
Another story from The Athletic says that James Ward-Prowse, who spent the second half of the season on loan at Burnley, was told he wasn’t part of West Ham’s plans when Nuno Espirito Santo became manager. The board was worried about how isolated Ward-Prowse was by this decision.
The report says that after his first training session as manager, Nuno privately told Ward-Prowse he wouldn’t be playing and that he’d have to train alone until he was transferred. Even though the board found this tough, they stayed behind the manager since they had hired him.