West Ham United face a desperate battle to avoid relegation, with recent results leaving them seven points clear of Premier League safety.
Nuno Espirito Santo’s side recently suffered back-to-back defeats against fellow struggling sides, losing 3-0 to Wolves before losing 2-1 at home to Nottingham Forest on Tuesday night.
The Hammers currently sit 18th in the table with just 14 points after 21 games, their worst result in the top flight since the 1973-74 season.
They have failed to win 10 games in a row, putting enormous pressure on manager Nuno, who is already facing questions about his future following the short spells of his predecessors Julen Lopetegui and Graham Potter.
Tuesday’s defeat was particularly painful, with West Ham looking set to take a 2-0 lead with Chrisencio Somerville’s second goal, but VAR intervened and the goal was ruled out for offside.
Forest then turned the game around and secured a decisive victory in the relegation battle.
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West Ham responded to their woes in the transfer market by spending more than £45 million on two strikers in the opening week of January.
Pablo Felipe arrived from Portugal’s Gil Vicente for £20m, followed soon after by Tati Castellanos from Lazio in a £25.2m deal. Both forwards made their debut against Forest and are expected to feature in Saturday’s FA Cup third round tie against QPR.
The club continues to add to its recruitment, targeting 19-year-old midfielder Alfa Toure from Metz, while also exploring moves for defenders such as Flamengo’s Leo Pereira and OH Leuven’s Rogerio Gnacossi, both of which face complications.
Nuno is also interested in reuniting with former Wolves winger Adama Traore, who is now at Fulham.
The Portuguese continues to have the support of the club hierarchy and transfer plans are being built around his identified targets in a bid to move out of the drop zone.
However, expenditures may be required to fund further operations.
Lucas Paqueta has been mentioned as a possible sale amid reports of interest from Tottenham, but the club are said to remain open to signing peripheral players in order to lift wages and free up funds for a broader rebuild.
The Hammers clearly need reinforcements in their backline, with Sky Italia’s Gianluca Di Marzio claiming they are currently eyeing a move for Benfica winger Andreas Schjelderup.
West Ham are in talks to sign Andreas Schjelderup
Di Marzio’s website says West Ham are in the race to sign the 21-year-old, who is pushing for a move from Portugal in order to secure regular minutes, with several clubs closely monitoring his situation.
Nuno’s side also appear to have “entered into negotiations” for the young attacker, meaning transfer talks have begun.
Schelderup is also attracting interest from Parma and Roma. The latter Serie A side sees the Norwegian as a fallback option should they fail to secure their main attacking target this winter, while Parma have been tracking the winger for several weeks and now face a serious challenge from the big club.
The 2004-born forward has played 11 league games for Benfica this season, scoring one goal and providing two assists. He has also appeared in the Champions League three times.
West Ham have already spent big on attacking players this month, but Nuno still seems determined to add width and speed, with Schjerderup represented by a younger, higher-potential option compared to recent signings.
The former Norschelland sensation has been hinted at a big future by the former Scandinavian manager, with the eight-cap ace branded as a “very special” young player to keep an eye on.
Benfica reportedly set his price tag at around £22 million this month.
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That would be an “ironic” move.
