Hammers Red Bull's Eye!

Having had their fingers incinerated by the purchase of Sebastien Haller from the Bundesliga, and just seen the fall out at Chelsea following Frank Lampard's dismissal due to him 'wasting' £116 Million on Timo Werner and Kai Havertz, BOTH from the Bundesliga.

One would assume David Moyes and the Hammers hierarchy would be extremely reticent about returning to such a potentially fiscally punitive area. However, West Ham are following up their interest in not one but two players from RB Leipzig, South Korean striker Hee-Chan Hwang and highly sought after left back Matthew Bondswell, the latter of which was subject to a late failed 'ambush' attempt by Leeds United. Hammers also recently signed another young defender Frederik Alves, the 21 year old Dane was also pursued by Leeds before putting pen to paper at the end of last month when he officially joined the Irons.

Acquiring Bondswell is seen as a bit of a coup because the highly rated 18 year old left back, who started out at Nottingham Forest, has already appeared for the England U-18 team and has also played first team fixtures this season for RB. The signings of Alves and Bondswell are a clear sign of the 'Moyes' template, pursuing the mantra of young hungry players.

In addition to laying the foundations for the next generation of defenders, Moyes has also identified Hee-Chan Hwang as the ideal forward to work alongside Michail Antonio. Hwang has eight goals in the Champions League and Europa League from just 14 starts, so he knows his way around the pitch, of course as West Ham know only too well, the Barclays Premier League is an entirely different animal to the Bundesliga and there is a possibility Hwang could do 'a Haller'!

However as Hwang's nick name is the Bull, fans will not need to be too concerned, he is a very direct player who eases past opponents, and is known for his link up play as well as being a fine passer of the ball. Strong, fleet of foot and a good finisher, does that remind you of anyone? Hee-Chan Hwang who is 25 years old today, is not an Antonio clone, but he does possess great strength and would be an ideal back up, or even strike partner for Antonio.

Although they come with the caveat of arriving from a league that has questionable overall qualities, both Bondswell and Hwang are exactly the sort of players Moyes and West Ham should be trying to bring to the London Stadium, young, fit and above all, hungry! Both deals are expected to be concluded within the next couple of days, and that will almost definitely be your lot as fans, there may also be a couple of players loaned out, although given how thin Moyes' squad is, those players would only be from the periphery. - Ed