Slaven Bilic’s West Ham had a terrible start to the season after a wonderful year last time out, but they have begun to make amends for a slow start to the season by putting in some decent performances off late. The January transfer window also saw the exit of influential French playmaker Dimitri Payet, who returned to Marseille after having fallen out with head coach Bilic.
The Hammers signed Robert Snodgrass from Hull City and Jose Fonte from Southampton in a bid to salvage a poor season so far. Both the signings are sure to pay dividends as the former is a creative player akin to Payet whereas Fonte is a defensive rock at the back. Bilic will rue missing out on a couple of targets that would’ve certainly added something more to a West Ham team that have struggled for consistency this season
Here are 3 players that Slaven Bilic should’ve signed in the January transfer window that has just gone by –
The former Brentford striker eventually opted to join Aston Villa, but he was extensively linked with The Irons throughout the transfer window, as Bilic looked to add to his attacking ranks, having lost Simone Zaza to Valencia, due to the Italian’s inability to make an impact during his stay in England.
Calleri also hasn’t hit the ground running and Hogan’s record in the championship this season enticed Bilic into making a bid for the Englishman, but the move never materialized due to Brentford holding out for a higher fee, which Aston Villa stumped out on deadline day to sign the exciting 24-year-old frontman. Bilic will rue missing out on Hogan, as he could’ve been the clinical striker who could’ve acted as the perfect foil to Andy Carroll’s abilities.
The Sunderland frontman has been a real prolific striker in the Premier league with various clubs during the course of his long career. Defoe still has it in him to be an excellent finisher as he has god positional sense and knows where to be at the right times. This ability would’ve surely helped the Hammers. Although no formal bid was lodged, there was a lot of interest in bringing him back to London, where he enjoyed reasonable success with Tottenham.
Defoe’s abilities and the fact that West Ham create way more opportunities than current club Sunderland means that Defoe should’ve made the move to the Olympic Stadium in order to end his career in a dignified manner, rather than going down with Sunderland. The interest never formalized as Defoe remains a Sunderland player and will spend the rest of the season battling relegation.
Although this might not have been a high-profile signing, this is a player of some stature. Cafu departed Brazilian club Palmeiras for just 1.5 million in 2015 and that looks like a steal for current club Ludogorets. The Brazilian has done exceptionally well in Bulgaria and has established himself as a lethal winger.
His performances against Arsenal in the Champions League didn’t go unnoticed by Premier League clubs and he was subject to interest from Premier League clubs such as Stoke City, Leicester and West Ham themselves, but there was a conflict regarding at what price the player was valued at. West Ham could’ve surely done with his pace and trickery in the wing positions, where they’ve been over-reliant on Michael Antonio and Manuel Lanzini.
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