West Ham United are said to be closing in on deals to sign Brazilian duo Fabricio Bruno and Wesley Gassova.
Bruno, 28, is thought to be very close to joining the Hammers from Flamengo, whilst West Ham are in continual talks with Corinthians over a deal for Wesley.
Wesley, an electrifying left winger, will apparently set the Hammers back around £21 million (Daily Mail).
And centre-back Bruno will cost us around £13 million according to various different reports.
New West Ham boss Julen Lopetegui has so much work to do with the squad left behind by the recently departed David Moyes.
The Spaniard has to strengthen pretty much every department of his squad at the London Stadium, and bringing young players in will be a must in order to bring down the average age of the group.
So with that in mind, a deal to sign Wesley would certainly make sense, although the Bruno transfer just doesn’t add up to me.
I think there could be another reason why the Hammers are pursuing deals for the Brazilians…
Real reason why West Ham are splashing out £34m on Bruno and Wesley
Lopetegui’s first couple of days in charge of the Hammers have been a real baptism of fire for him.
The Spaniard had enough work on his hands already, before some huge news broke yesterday.
Lucas Paqueta has been charged by the FA, in relation to four separate betting breaches, leaving his future completely up in the air.
It has been suggested that he could face a multi-year ban. And as a result, I think the Hammers’ transfer strategy may well have to change.
It has been claimed that Lopetegui’s summer budget will be heavily reliant on player sales (Jacob Steinberg).
So considering the fact that it’s highly likely we won’t be receiving £70-85 million for Paqueta this summer, I can’t see West Ham splashing the cash lavishly.
The Hammers may well now have to tighten the purse-strings in order to comply with new PSR regulations.
I don’t believe we will have any PSR issues, but that will undoubtedly be the narrative coming out of the club.
And that’s why I believe West Ham are pursuing deals for the relatively unknown Wesley and Bruno. I don’t think they’re bad deals, especially not Wesley. However, I feel strongly that our targets would have been more ambitious, had Paqueta been on his way to Man City.
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