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A thought on West Ham’s quiet January transfer window

By Adam Smith

LONDON, ENGLAND - JANUARY 12: Manuel Pellegrini, Manager of West Ham United looks on prior to the Premier League match between West Ham United and Arsenal FC at London Stadium on January 12, 2019 in London, United Kingdom. (Photo by Marc Atkins/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND - JANUARY 12: Manuel Pellegrini, Manager of West Ham United looks on prior to the Premier League match between West Ham United and Arsenal FC at London Stadium on January 12, 2019 in London, United Kingdom. (Photo by Marc Atkins/Getty Images) /
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West Ham have stuck to their guns and not put in any bids on January reinforcements so far this window. While many see the injuries to the first team as a justification to dip into the market, Manuel Pellegrini has refused to abandon his plan and there could be a solid reason why.

Portugal.

Portugal has a population of 10.3 million people, it spans 92,212 km², it ranks 25th in a very arbitrary ‘best country in the world’ list, and it houses Liga Nos, the top tier of Portuguese football.

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As West Ham’s business concluded in August with the deadline acquisition of depth striker Lucas Perez, a move that left plenty of Hammers fans disappointed with a less-than-exciting recruit joining the team. It was clear the move was just a depth option, but of course, the Irons have needed to use him more than they would probably have liked with first team injuries.

Perez is clearly a stop-gap addition, but ExWHUemployee hinted on his ITK twitter account that Pellegrini had been setting up scouting circles and starting relationships in Portugal for future business. This began with the signing of Xande Silva from Vitoria de Guimaraes.

It was a move for the future, but his impressive start has seen him ascend to being on the cusp of regular bench selections with the first team in recent weeks.

Since then, West Ham have been loosely linked with FC Porto – a Liga Nos team that is a perennial top the table squad, and I believe business with this club is the reason West Ham will wait until the summer to dip into the market for a midfielder and striker.

At Porto specifically, there are two apex targets for West Ham – Danilo Periera and Moussa Marega. These two players are senior, veteran players who know their role and play it well. I believe that they are West Ham’s two main targets in the summer transfer window and will topple and links to Maxi Gomez and the like.

Both players are currently 27-years-old with Marega turning 28 before July 1st, and Porto is likely to shift to younger players in their current team to take the mantle over these two vets. Both increased their value and skill at Porto to high levels and rightfully so with intense battles to win their league and yearly trips for European football.

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They aren’t spring chickens, they aren’t up-and-coming prospects, but with West Ham’s blank slate of strikers come the end of the season, and the need for more help in defensive midfield, these two players make a whole lot of sense. Should West Ham beat their opposition to signing one or both of these players they will take another massive step forward to Manuel Pellegrini’s top-6 aspirations. Quote me.