West Ham United's three major summer transfers already in the pipeline – including bargain Southampton raid

The Graham Potter era has kicked off with mixed reviews at West Ham United, and this summer’s transfer business will be crucial in shaping the squad around Potter’s requirements.

As well as a new head coach, former director of football Tim Steidten has been ousted and West Ham could head in a very different direction in the next transfer window, but old problems – such as the glaring need for a striker – have yet to be resolved.

With a summer of potential upheaval in mind, we look ahead to the transfer deals which are already firmly in the pipeline at the London Stadium, and preview the likely outcome of their hunt for a new centre-forward.

Southampton star and rising Dutch star on West Ham shopping list

As it stands, West Ham appear to have two deals which seem especially likely to come to fruition – not that there isn’t plenty of time for thing to change, of course. First up, several recent reports have suggested that the Hammers have stolen a march on quite a few other clubs with their attempts to secure the signing of Southampton full-back Kyle Walker-Peters on a free transfer.

The twice-capped England international is one of only a few players to emerge from the wreckage of Southampton’s season with any real credit to their name, and as he’s up for a Bosman there are plenty of teams interested, but West Ham are the only team as yet reported to have made a formal approach.

Walker-Peters would provide competition in both full-back spots, giving Aaron Wan-Bissaka some support down the right and likely replacing Aaron Creswell on the left.

A younger player who seems relatively likely to make the move to East London is Dutch midfielder Ezechiel Banzuzi, who currently plays for OH Leuven in the Belgian Pro League. West Ham bid for the 20-year-old in January and while their advances were rebuffed by Banzuzi’s current club, reporting in Belgium suggests that he expects to leave in the summer.

A Netherlands Under-21 international, he is expected to cost in the region of £15m including add-ons and while there are said to be other sides interested, West Ham’s is the most concrete as it stands, and it seems as though Steidten’s departure hasn’t prevented them from monitoring his progress in recent months. Expect a bid to be made soon after the window opens.

West Ham are also courting free agent midfielder Angel Gomes, who is set to leave Lille this summer, but are one of many teams interested and appear to be likely to lose out, with Tottenham Hotspur current favourites to sign the England international. A bid may well materialise, but it’s unlikely to come to fruition as it stands.

Uncertainty still surrounds centre-forward search

West Ham are expected to look for new additions at the back and in midfielder, with a winger and a goalkeeper also possible additions to the line-up, but by far the biggest priority remains finding a long-term fix for the striker situation.

With Michail Antonio, Danny Ings and Niclas Füllkrug all ageing and dealing with a wide range of significant fitness issues, West Ham will focus on signing a new number nine this summer and as it stands don’t expect to make a move to make Evan Ferguson’s loan permanent, with key figures at the club reportedly unconvinced that the young Irishman is the answer.

West Ham have a long list of possible targets, but the vast majority of their preferred option are also coveted by other clubs. As a result, they are somewhat at the mercy of the market and will most likely have to wait for ‘bigger’ sides to make their moves before bidding for the players that are left.

West Ham are known to be extremely keen on Ipswich Town’s Liam Delap, who reportedly has a £30m release clause in the likely event of the Tractor Boys’ relegation, but several sides further up the table are also in the hunt – even if most of them see Delap as a fall-back option rather than a priority.

A similar situation exists with forwards such as Lille’s Jonathan David, Eintracht Frankfurt’s Hugo Ekitike, Porto’s Samu Agehowa and Udinese’s Lorenzo Lucca. West Ham are reported to be monitoring all of them, while the players themselves are likely to hope for offers from clubs competing in Europe next season.

As a result, it’s impossible to know which direction West Ham may end up travelling in, and they are liable to left waiting on the outcome of other clubs’ striker searches. Arsenal, Chelsea, Newcastle, Liverpool and Manchester United are all looking for new forwards, and their own searches will impact who West Ham can make a move for this summer.