Four big new signings West Ham can still land by transfer deadline day - and four they won’t

A slightly frantic transfer window is finally drawing to a close at the London Stadium, with most of the Declan Rice money finally spent, but there are still one or two gaps that need filling in David Moyes’ squad, and some business will surely be done by deadline day.

For starters, West Ham need at least one and ideally two strikers, and a bit of defensive depth wouldn’t go amiss either – and the rumour mill has thrown out quite a few names in recent days as we get close to Friday’s deadline. To help keep the wheat separated from the chaff, then, let’s take a look at some of the reports circulating and see who could well be coming in, and who most certainly won’t be.

Youssef En-Nesyri – possible

The Moroccan striker has been a regular starter for Sevilla over the past four years and is now a regular feature of West Ham transfer columns. The 26-year-old has a fine goalscoring record in Spain, including netting against Manchester City in this year’s European Super Cup, and at around £35m looks very reasonably priced. Talks have been going on for some time now, and he isn’t the only forward that the Hammers have been linked with, but he does look like a very plausible signing.

He’s netted 55 goals in 158 games for Sevilla, 17 in 61 caps for Morocco, is physically impressive, technically sound and has generally proven to be a rock solid top-tier striker – exactly what West Ham need.

Yuri Alberto – possible

The 22-year-old Brazilian earned an experimental international cap back in March but hasn’t scored too many since returning to his homeland after an abortive spell in Russia. Nevertheless, technical director Tim Steidten has reportedly taken a trip over the Atlantic to have a chat with Corinthians about a deal, and this one does seem to have some genuine legs. Is it a case of Yuri or En-Nesyri, or would they sign both? Do they feel a need to offload Michail Antonio or Danny Ings first? We don’t know, unfortunately, but we do know that there’s every chance the young Brazilian might get a second crack at Europe very soon.

Harry Maguire – possible

Maguire’s permanent deal to West Ham may have fallen through, but word on the grapevine is that the transfer has been resurrected as a loan deal with United likely paying some of the England defender’s wages just to get him off the books for a bit and free up some space for a new centre-half of their own. West Ham have signed Konstantinos Mavropanos since their crack at signing Maguire came to nothing, but Moyes is still an admirer of the generously-foreheaded former United captain and could well push to make this happen.

Ian Maatsen – possible

Some competition at left-back has been a necessity for West Ham all summer, and the last couple of days have seen several reports suggesting that Moyes may try to beat Burnley to the signing of Chelsea’s Maatsen, who impressed on loan at Turf Moor last season but is down the pecking order now he’s back at Stamford Bridge. With Chelsea still desperately trying to balance the books and keen to sell anyone who isn’t a nailed-on part of Mauricio Pochettino’s plans, this seems like a pretty likely move – the only question is whether Maatsen has sufficiently fond memories of life under Vincent Kompany to make the move back to Lancashire or not.

Hugo Ekitiké – not happening

The last of the three strikers West Ham have been linked with regularly over the past few weeks, but increasingly the one who looks most likely to get away. The 21-year-old Frenchman is an option for the Hammers despite a disappointing first season with Paris Saint-Germain which produced just four goals and saw him deemed surplus to requirements over the summer, but the bad news is that Eintracht Frankfurt seem like his most likely destination, with PSG hoping to use Ekitiké as a makeweight in a deal for Randal Kolo Muani. Should that deal fall through, this deal may end up back on the menu, but with just a couple of days to sort it all out, he seems the least likely arrival of West Ham’s attacking options.

Brennan Johnson – not happening

Not that there’s anything inherently unrealistic about West Ham signing Johnson given that the young forward seems likely to leave Nottingham Forest – but the simple fact is that both Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur are making overtures as well, and West Ham are simply struggling to appeal to Johnson in the face of such stiff competition. The only way he pitches up at the London Stadium in September is if the more appealing alternative moves fail to materialise for whatever reason. Like the Ekitiké deal this one isn’t impossible, but it isn’t very likely either.

Hirving Lozano – not happening

A rather ambitious shout which has popped up every now and again all summer, Mexican winger Lozano is one of the best-paid and most important players at Napoli and seems very unlikely to be interested in a move away from the Serie A champions – unless the money was truly outrageous, and he’s already rolling in it. It doesn’t help that Lozano hasn’t got his season underway yet thanks to a persistent knee injury that he endured in May. This always felt like a wild shout that was spinning around the less reliable rumour websites and hasn’t become any more likely since West Ham confirmed the arrival of Mohamed Kudus.

Ibrahim Sangaré – not happening

The PSV Eindhoven midfielder has an array of suitors, many of them in the Premier League, and West Ham would struggle to work their way through the thicket of teams trying to get hold of the Ivorian (which reputedly includes the likes of Liverpool and Bayern Munich) at the best of times. The arrivals of Edson Álvarez and James Ward-Prowse, however, make this one downright implausible – West Ham simply don’t have the cash to splash on another big-money central midfielder when there’s a striker to be bought, and they’d likely get outbid anyway.

So what do we know about how Moyes’ squad will look come the weekend? Well, there will almost certainly be a new striker, maybe two, and there’s one or two other players who could show up as well – and perhaps they’ll have a trick up their sleeve that we didn’t see coming. Either way, West Ham will likely be among the busier sides on Friday.