West Ham manager David Moyes says he’s hopeful the club will be able to secure some of their targets during the summer transfer window. This summer has been one of adjustment for the West Ham hierarchy though, with former skipper Mark Noble relatively new to his sporting director role while incoming technical director Tim Steidten has only just come through the door.
David Moyes said: “It’s new; new people to the club. I’ve known Mark for a long time and have a great relationship with him. I’m still getting to know Tim. Because of the shortness of the summer and being in Australia, the amount of time we have had together has been limited, but I’m sure we’ll get down to work and do what we have to do. The club have made several offers for players. We are out in the market. We are quite active. Hopefully, some of them will come off in the future.”
Moyes will need a big squad again this season as West Ham are back in Europe for the third year in a row, qualifying for the Europa League group stages following their Conference League success. The Irons reached the last four of the Europa League during their last outing in the competition, losing over two legs to eventual winners Eintracht Frankfurt. Having gone unbeaten in last season’s Conference League, it means West Ham’s record in Europe (including qualifying games) over the last two seasons reads 20 victories from 27 matches.
David Moyes added: “There aren’t many clubs in this country that get to win European trophies, so we’re certainly going to continue talking about it and thinking about it. But meanwhile, we’ll also be moving on and getting ready for the new season. We have to use it as the fuel to drive us forward, to improve. We’ve had a good run at it in the last three years. I don’t know how many teams have finished in Europe three times in a row. I can name a few, obviously. But for West Ham to do that is a great achievement and we’ll try and do it again this year. If you look at it, there have been very few defeats in Europe in the last two years. I’m hoping that turns out to be the case in the third year as well.”
