Former Hammers assistant coach Kevin Nolan says he knows why West Ham are struggling to make signings this summer. If Kevin Nolan had his way he would still be at West Ham right now. When West Ham replaced David Moyes with Julen Lopetegui it was clear the Spaniard would be making sweeping changes.
Hammers fans urged the club to keep Nolan on in some capacity as part of Lopetegui’s new setup. Many felt it was important to keep a connection between supporters and the management team.
Somebody who knew what supporters want and expect and that vital bridge between players and head coach.
Nolan revealed he told the club he wanted to stay at West Ham as part of the new setup. But Lopetegui rejected the offer.
Steidten’s West Ham window pain
As well as sweeping changes on the staff, West Ham are in the midst of what is supposed to be a summer of sweeping changes to the squad too. Lopetegui and technical director Tim Steidten are targeting eight signings to overhaul the Premier League’s smallest and second oldest squad.
But only three have arrived so far with less than three weeks to go until the start of the new season.
It has been over three weeks since West Ham’s last signing. And some supporters have questioned whether the club paid too much in buying Max Kilman for £40m.
The other two signings the Hammers have made are not first team starters as things stand. Wes Foderingham will be the club’s third choice goalkeeper and and Luis Guilherme will be a work in progress based on pre-season so far.
Steidten has seen a host of deals collapse and targets move elsewhere. As a result the German is facing pressure at West Ham for the first time.
Nolan knows why West Ham are struggling to make signings
And Nolan says he knows why West Ham are struggling to make signings this summer. The former Hammers captain says Steidten is seeing how difficult it is to sign players without European football.
West Ham had European football for three consecutive seasons. But there will be no European adventures next season.
“Again (talking about the struggle to make quality signings), Lucas Paqueta, he could be one (example),” Nolan said on talkSPORT at 6.54am.
“If we weren’t in Europe, he wouldn’t have come, and that is the be all and end all.
“We got someone of his calibre and his quality to come to us and was able to produce the way he did and win us a trophy and be in Europe last year and into the (quarters) again.”
No Europe a big factor but other clubs are managing it
West Ham looked well on course to qualify for Europe again last season as they sat in the top six following a 2-0 win at Arsenal after Christmas.
But Nolan recently claimed the actions of Moyes ended up derailing West Ham’s campaign.
West Ham dropped down to ninth with just five wins from their 25 games in all competitions in the second half of the season. Nolan is right, it makes it extremely difficult to sign quality players without the offer of European football.
But other clubs manage it. Crystal Palace, Brighton and Bournemouth have all made quality signings this summer. Nottingham Forest and Everton are managing to attract players too.
So it can be no excuse. Especially as Steidten and Lopetegui are looking to attract younger players who are not yet on the radar of the top clubs. For those players European football is not necessarily the be all and end all.
