Expensive dead wood under threat as West Ham look to sell four
A report claims West Ham United will attempt to sell four players in the January transfer window to help offset the cost of their summer spending.
The Hammers left it late but managed to bring in three new faces to add to a couple of earlier signings. Craig Dawson was an early summer acquisition from Watford while goalkeeper Alphonse Areola arrived on loan from Paris Saint-Germain. David Moyes then kept his powder dry but managed to lure defender Kurt Zouma from Chelsea on August 28.
The East End outfit paid in the region of £30m for the France international. Attacking midfielder Nikola Vlasic arrived from CSKA Moscow on August 31 for £27m.
And defensive midfielder Alex Kral penned a season-long loan deal, also on deadline day. The new arrivals meant West Ham were the fourth biggest net spenders in the Premier League during the summer window.
Felipe Anderson left to join Lazio for £2.7m but there was no significant addition to the club’s coffers. Respected website Claret and Hugh are suggesting that as many as four players will be jettisoned in the winter window.
Five former Manchester United players still available as free agents
Those in danger of an exit are Andriy Yarmolenko, Manuel Lanzini, Darren Randolph and Ryan Fredericks.
The site reports: “With Nikola Vlasic, Pablo Fornals and (others) also available as attacking midfielder Manu’s (Lanzini) future now appears to be away from the club.
“The Hammers, however, have received no bidders for the player and will now wait until the winter window to see if there is a chance of moving him on.
“The club would also be ready to sell any of Darren Randolph, Ryan Fredericks and Andriy Yarmolenko should clubs show any interest in January.”
Duo’s exit to clip West Ham wage bill
The quartet may play some part over the first half of the 2021-2022 campaign. But it might well be just a peripheral role and one that Moyes could do without.
Randolph and Fredericks are not in the top bracket of earners but Yarmolenko and Lanzini are. Ukraine international Yarmolenko is said to earn £115,000 per week while Argentina’s Lanzini picks up £100k for a week’s work.
That is a significant amount between them given their relative inactivity during last season. Yarmolenko made just 15 Premier League appearances while Lanzini was seen 17 times in the top flight.
Fredericks enjoyed 14 league outings while Randolph acted as backup to Lukasz Fabianski.
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