West Ham United need to make one signing in January, if we want to progress to a whole new level entirely.
David Moyes has a fantastic group of players at his disposal at West Ham, but he does need to make six new signings in order to complete his squad.
The Hammers boss won’t be able to sign all of those players in the January transfer window of course, but there is one type of player who Moyes should be specifically targeting.
One thing we desperately lack as a team in general is someone with real pace to stretch the opposition’s back-line.
West Ham are just one player away from becoming unplayable inside the final third this season in my opinion.
Moyes needs to bring an absolutely rapid left winger to the London Stadium, and move Lucas Paqueta back into the middle in place of Tomas Soucek.
I’m not digging out Soucek at all, he is clearly a very important member of Moyes’s squad both defensively and offensively, especially from set-pieces.
However, what we gain with the 28-year-old’s aerial ability, we lose with fluidity through the middle of the park due to his poor passing ability.
Getting Paqueta back playing centrally with a new speed-demon left winger is the dream really isn’t it! Can you just imagine how much of a potent attacking threat we would be then?
One January signing West Ham need to make
The Hammers are already looking very potent indeed with our front three of Paqueta alongside Jarrod Bowen and Mohammed Kudus.
I think that things could get even better for us though, if Moyes brings in a left winger with blistering pace this winter.
Our lack of pace out on the left wing is a real concern, and we sometimes struggle to get in behind the opposition because of that.
In fairness to Moyes, he did try to solve this issue in the summer by signing Harvey Barnes, but he ended up joining Newcastle instead.
And now it’s time for the Scot to make another attempt to add some pace and power to his front-line.
There are plenty of options available out there for us, including the likes of Martin Terrier, Jadon Sancho, Noa Lang, Crysencio Summerville and Luis Sinisterra – all players who we’ve been linked with over the past few months.
If Moyes signs a rapid left winger, Paqueta could then be deployed in the number 10 role, just in front of James Ward-Prowse and Edson Alvarez and behind Bowen or Kudus.
Moyes would obviously have to drop Soucek to make this work, but my word, what an attacking threat we’d be if the Hammers boss went along with my suggestion.
Said Benrahma and Pablo Fornals have been horrendous for us this season, whilst Maxwel Cornet has barely played and in truth, they all need to be sold next month.
Then Moyes will have the funds available to make a top-class left-winger signing for West Ham in the January transfer window. It could be the move that makes us truly unplayable as an attacking outfit.
