London: West Ham United have sent a ‘begging letter’ to the Premier League’s top clubs ahead of next month’s transfer window as part of a desperate bid to boost their squad.
They have made specific inquiries about Michy Batshuayi, Daniel Sturridge, Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial as they try to land a striker on loan, but have also issued a more general plea to the leading clubs.
Letters have been sent by West Ham, 13th in the table in a season that has been one of great disappointment so far, to Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Arsenal and Manchester United asking whether they have any strikers, full-backs or central defenders they would be prepared to loan next month. West Ham are also interested in Chris Smalling, Branislav Ivanovic, Mathieu Debuchy and Carl Jenkinson, who has already spent two previous spells on loan with them.
The inquiries for the likes of Rashford, Martial and Smalling are more in hope than expectation, but West Ham feel it is worth asking before moving on to more realistic, targets. Hull City, Swansea City and Aston Villa are also interested in Jenkinson, but West Ham could rival them for a loan switch if they are unsuccessful with other moves.
Tottenham Hotspur have central defender Kevin Wimmer on the fringes of their first team — he can also play at full-back — but West Ham have not sent a letter to their fierce rivals. Tottenham and West Ham have refused to do business with each other during recent seasons, with Spurs chairman Daniel Levy blocking West Ham’s bid to sign Emmanuel Adebayor in January 2015. Meanwhile, Antonio Conte wants to use the pounds 60million (Dh272.1 million) Chelsea will bank from selling Oscar to Chinese club Shanghai SIPG to add at least two new players to his title-chasing squad next month. Despite Chelsea heading into Christmas six points clear in the league and without European football to worry about, Conte is looking for a defender and a midfielder. Leonardo Bonucci’s decision to sign a contract extension with Juventus has left them examining alternative defensive targets, including Antonio Rudiger, Simon Kjaer, Michael Keane and Niklas Sule, who Bayern Munich are confident of signing. Technical director Michael Emenalo joined Conte on a scouting mission to watch Monaco play Tottenham in the Champions League last month, with full-back Djibril Sidibe and midfielder Tiemoue Bakayoko understood to have been on their radar. Monaco’s involvement in the Champions League will make securing either player in January difficult and Conte could renew his interest in Belgian midfielder Radja Nainggolan, who Chelsea attempted to sign during the summer. Roma would be reluctant to let the 28-year-old midfielder go, but Nainggolan has not closed the door on a possible switch to Stamford Bridge. Chelsea striker Diego Costa was handed a Christmas bonus of an extra day off by Conte in a move that will further boost the club’s bid to tie him to a new pounds 200,000-a-week contract. Conte has transformed Costa’s form and attitude to such an extent that the Spain international has already suggested to teammates that he is ready to extend his deal at Stamford Bridge.
— Matt Law, The Daily Telegraph
