David Moyes has confirmed that West Ham United are keen to bolster their squad in the January transfer window but the manager is expecting a slow window in which it may be difficult to get deals completed. When asked if the club will be active in the next four and a half weeks,
David Moyes said: “I’d love to say yes. Do we want to act? Yes we do. Are we ready to act? Probably not. That is not to do with resources but it’s to do with availability, generally it looks like a difficult market. We say that every year but it feels that way. All I would say is that our last few January windows have seen us get Soucek, Bowen and Jesse Lingard so if I could get anybody that would give us that level of success during the January window it would be seen as a positive.”
Then pushed on if he has specific players on a wishlist,
David Moyes added: “The answer to that is no because there might be people who you want to target but the other clubs don’t want to sell them. I’ve got a player in mind who we would like but the club said they wouldn’t sell in January so you’ve got to wait until the summer. That is why I see a bit more of that in this window than I’ve seen before. You don’t get the feeling that there are clubs who are desperate for the money as they were this time last year where they needed the money to see them through. I don’t see that that desperation is out there so maybe you need to pay over the odds or they are not available. I’d love to be more upbeat but I am being honest and telling you how I see the window. I hope to add but I couldn’t guarantee it.”
On a brighter note Moyes has said that centre back Kurt Zouma is ahead of schedule in his recovery from a hamstring injury sustained in the win over Chelsea at the beginning of December, although Aaron Cresswell’s return from a back issue is taking longer than first thought.
David Moyes said: “Both are coming on but the good news is that Kurt is doing really well. Kurt is coming on and we’re really pleased with where Kurt is. I couldn’t turn around and say he’s going to be back in a week or a month but he’s really positive about his injury, well ahead of schedule at the moment. I am hoping there is positive news on Kurt. Cressy is still a slower injury than we hoped it would be but certainly getting much closer to fitness.”