In the classic film 'Love Actually', the family Matriach complains to the Prime Minister that making the 'Octopus' outfit for the Nativity play they were speeding towards took a lot of work, "Eight is a lot of legs you know David!" Eight is indeed a lot of legs, even more if you double the amount, but eight pairs of legs is what David Moyes and his staff are going to need to replace or cement in place by the end of the season.
Some of the eight are nailed on renewals, Angelo Ogbonna is one who is definitely set to be given a 12 month extension to his contract, despite currently being injured. Whereas Andriy Yarmolenko and Ryan Fredericks will certainly leave on free transfers at the end of this season.
David Moyes will also try to sell Arthur Masuaku, Issa Diop and Darren Randolph as they will ALL be entering the last year of their contracts and Mark Noble is finally hanging up his boots. Then there is the 'peculiar case' of the loanees, Alphonse Areola and Alex Kral the former has featured very little whereas the latter has hardly featured at all!
So by our reckoning that makes a full EIGHT players who need firming up with new contracts or replacing, BEFORE the beginning of next season. The NEXT transfer window WILL dictate Hammers' fortunes for years and years to come, because by the end of next year the Premier League's 'elite' teams that have been massively under performing, will have got their acts together and will leave Hammers in their wake.
This coming June is going to have to be the most efficient acquisition period that West Ham have ever had if the club is to maintain its chase for European contention, to many the damage has already been done during the phoney transfer window that has just passed. IF David Moyes somehow manages to successfully integrate some of the youth players into the 1st team, the club might just be able to 'limp' through to the season's end.
Of course the mission is almost impossible, but the team that is starting the 2nd half of the season is actually only ONE player different to the team that started the season, but come the summer "Eight(x2) legs is a lot to replace David"!-ED
