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West Ham may have at least three striking vacancies up front if the news reaching us turns out to be as valid as we think, Lucas Perez is definitely leaving the club for the same £4 Million paid for him at the beginning of the season with Real Betis being his main suitor. Jordan Hugill is set to make his loan move to Middlesbrough a permanent one for around £6 Million and Javier Hernandez is subject to several offers, all of which are way short of the £17 Million that Hammers paid Bayern for his services.

Potentially Hammers will lose £14 Million in transfer fees should all three depart, however over £250,000 per week will be taken off the wage bill which is very important due to the wages versus income percentage ratio needed to comply with FFP regulations. The club was already hovering around the limits set, and players have to be shipped out before any further significant business can be done. Whilst culling three strikers may seem a little extreme, it should be remembered that none of those mentioned were actually signed by Manuel Pellegrini and he probably feels the sooner he can have players of his choice leading the line the better!

Just to further 'muddy the waters', Andrew Thomas Carroll is also being touted to whoever will listen, which leads to the question of which strikers would be used if so many depart? Arnautovic, Antonio and Xande Silva will be the only recognisable players available to play up front which would leave the club desperately short of cover. It seems the Maxi Gomez deal will happen, but not during this window, so what will Pellegrini and his staff do to fill the void?

Chelsea's Michy Batshuayi has long been coveted by the Hammers hierarchy and is available having been recalled from his loan spell, however the West London club are unhappy about a loan deal and are looking for a permanent transfer. It is believed that is not an option that Hammers would consider but things could change depending on who leaves the London Stadium. A loan deal with the obligation of making the switch permanent is the best that Chelsea are offering, perhaps it may happen.

The beauty and ugliness of 'transfer day' is that events can happen really quickly, there is invariably a Domino effect situation which is triggered by one player moving thus freeing up fees and wages for his club to use, and so on and so forth, Hammers have publicly stated that they have no desire to dip their toes in to the market at this time of year, but you can't believe everything you see and hear from the Board of a Barclays Premier League club can you? - Ed

West Ham’s inconsistency was laid bare once again as they slumped to a disappointing defeat at the hands of Wolves on Tuesday night. It was a cold, grim evening in the Black Country and the Hammers responded to those challenging conditions with an insipid display. They failed to register a single shot on target and found themselves completely overrun by a tougher, hungrier Wolves side. The result capped a run of three straight defeats for the Hammers and sent them tumbling down the Premiership table. Victory would have put Manuel Pellegrini's team up to seventh, a scenario twice faced in recent weeks and on each occasion the team have failed to get over the line.

Wolves’ victory catapulted them up to seventh and their fans are now daring to dream of European football next season. However, that section of the table looks extremely congested and the Hammers are just four points behind Nuno Espirito Santo’s men despite the defeat. If they can find a measure of consistency for the remainder of the season they could just overhaul the likes of Wolves, Watford, Leicester, and Everton and make seventh place their own. But they need to learn to motivate themselves better on miserable evenings and against all types of opposition.

A look at the Premier League odds at the leading bookmakers listed on OddsMarket will show you that the Hammers are underdogs to finish in the top half of the table, let alone the top seven. That is down to their baffling inconsistency, they followed up a superb 1-0 win over Arsenal with defeats to Bournemouth, AFC Wimbledon and now Wolves. This is a team that beat Man Utd 3-1 and went to conquerors of Man City Newcastle and picked up a fine 3-0 victory, but they have suffered so many shock defeats too.

There are some phenomenally talented players in the squad, with Felipe Anderson and Marko Arnautovic showing flashes of brilliance throughout the season when he is not looking to the far east, but a lack of backbone, grit and determination has ultimately proved the clubs undoing thus far. The likes of Mark Noble and Pablo Zabaleta, especially Noble need to show some leadership and encourage this group of players to finish the season strongly. West Ham certainly have the quality to secure a comfortable mid-table finish and the fans should demand nothing less after the investment in the side last summer.

Next up West Ham host Liverpool and a strong result on the night could provide the catalyst for a change in fortunes. Hammers have shown they can go toe to toe with the elite and they should have no problem finding the requisite motivation for this match. Many fans will view the Liverpool fixture with dread, but then there two eminently more winnable games as the side take on Crystal Palace and Fulham in a pair of important London derbies. Both sides struggle defensively and these are the sort of teams that the Hammers should be putting to the sword.

West Ham fans might find themselves tempted to bet on the team to return to winning ways in those fixtures. After all, poor form rarely lasts long with this group of players. Before placing a bet, it is worth checking out OddsMarket, a totally free site that provides you with a huge range of expert betting tips on all Premier League games. You can benefit from video content and articles from experienced tipsters, plus a number of helpful tools.

They include an odds comparison function, which lets you check which betting sites are offering the best prices on West Ham and their rivals. Watching a Premiership match is a thrilling event, but that is ramped up enormously when you have money riding on the outcome. OddsMarket is designed to help you make educated wagering decisions and ensure you achieve maximum profit if you guess correctly. You can benefit from a bet tracker, bet calculator, a lively forum and live scores, all in one handy site that is totally free, without any catch whatsoever, so it is well worth a look as West Ham approach some key games in the coming weeks.

There will be Manchester City fans sitting at home or in the Pub or where ever asking why has this happened to my club? as they countenance their defeat at Newcastle that could rule them out of winning the Premier League, Hammers recent loss of form and all the shennanigans regarding the Arnoutovic transfer saga are just another part of the bandwagon, unless their is a catastrophic run of defeats West Ham are safe from relegation. Given the ridiculous amount of injuries the club has had to deal with, just getting to the end of the season will be an achievement, perhaps some more investment on the medical side of things wouldn't go amiss. -Ed

Wolverhampton Wanderers: Patricio, Bennett, Saiss, Coady, Doherty, Neves, Moutinho, Dendoncker, Jonny, Jimenez, Jota. Subs: Ruddy, Vinagre, Kilman, Gibbs-White, Cavaleiro, Traore, Costa.
West Ham United: Fabianski, Zabaleta, Ogbonna, Diop, Masuaku, Rice, Noble, Antonio, Anderson, Snodgrass, Arnautovic. Subs: Adrian, Fredericks, Coventry, Obiang, Diangana, Chicharito, Carroll.

The European transfer window has a little over two days remaining, generally in the past Hammers fans have got used to a diet of broken promises and ridiculously low bids that would never be accepted by club's for their players. This is the first season that West Ham have the financial benefit of not having taken out a 'pay day' loan that needs repaying, as it has not been allowed by the FA or the Premier League for the last couple of seasons. This is one of the reasons for the perceived lack of investment during the season preceding the current one, the fact is the club had little money to invest in new players during the season when the loan had to be paid off in its entirety.

Having 'shocked' most observers and fans alike by 'splashing the cash' this summer, and in addition bringing in a World class manager on massive wages, finally it seemed that the Hammers hierarchy had got their hands on some money that didn't have to go straight out of the window. They backed their new manager to the hilt and more, however lady luck decided to 'leave the building' just around the same time as the newly assembled team was taking shape, the injury to Manuel Lanzini being a mere portent of things to come!

The injuries to Andrily Yarmolenko, Carlos Sanchez, Winston Reid, Fabian Balbuena, Ryan Fredricks and Jack Wilshere to name a few have damn near crippled (sic) the squad, however results have still been achieved up until the 'Arnie Saga', his absence combined with the massive injury list was the straw that broke the Camel's back. In the past the Board would huff and puff before eventually giving in to the player's demands for fear of losing out financially, but in Arnoutovic's case they appear to have done the opposite. Not only have they extended Arnie's contract but they are actively pursuing a couple of deals that will take the club to that almost mythical next level.

Make no mistake, the Pellegrini revolution is taking place in front of fans' eyes, his philosophy apart from playing attractive attacking football that is pleasing on the eye, is to build a comprehensive squad. Even during the times of the 'Biscuit Baron's' phoney cash when money was being spent like it didn't matter, of course it later transpired that all the money was borrowed, the squad was wafer thin in extremis. For the last 40-50 years it had always been that way, the Cairns family in particular 'skimmed off' any excess funding that could have propelled the club to a higher level, they were content for West Ham to be a 'Yo Yo' club.

Fast forward to now, and nothing seems to be further from the truth when it comes to 'lack of investment', the club having already backed their manager more than any other are now willing to support his desire to really push on to the season's end by backing his audacious attempt to bring Maxi Gomez to the London Stadium, an not just for a sight seeing tour! Concrete approaches have been made to make the deal happen, either Hammers are preparing for life without Marko Arnoutovic despite him signing a new contract, or Pellegrini sees Gomez's arrival as one of the remaining parts of his Claret and Blue jigsaw puzzle.

Funding Gomez's arrival would be a massive enterprise, but with Chicharito, Andy Carroll and Lucas Perez all potential departees he numbers can be crunched, Hernandez and Carroll earn the thick end of a quarter of a million pounds per week between them, money that has mainly been spent for bench warming and attending medical facilities. Their combined wages of over £13 Million per annum could be removed, if sold during this window their combined sale could bring in an additional £10-15 Million, the combined wages and sale value equates to over two thirds of Gomez's buy out clause, so a deal can still be done. The third Hammers striker who could be on the move is Lucas Perez, he has already had offers from France and Spain, he is believed to be on the same wages as Gomez currently is!

So the move for Gomez could be almost self financing, it would represent a real signal of intent from the Board and have fans licking their lips in anticipation of what might be on offer, especially when the 'little jewel' that is Manuel Lanzini returns to the fold. - Ed