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David Golid admits he expects to see at least two new faces at the club before the transfer window closes at the end of this month – but are we about to see four instead?

Our business so far this summer has been impressive. The arrivals of Dimitri Payet, Manuel Lanzini, Pedro Obiang, Angelo Ogbonna all look to be solid additions, while we all know what to expect from Carl Jenkinson.

But Enner Valencia’s injury on Thursday night, which is expected to keep him sidelined for about 10-12 weeks, has further exposed the fact that we are terribly short up front.

So it’s no surprise that we’re reportedly on the verge of signing Atletico Madrid striker Raul Jimenez on a season-long loan.

Reports in the London Evening Standard claim a deal has been agreed and the only thing preventing the deal from being completely done is because of work permit problems. That’s a deal that we should all expect to happen if said problems are sorted out.

But that hasn’t stopped us from trying our hardest to get QPR’s Charlie Austin. The Championship club are reportedly unwilling to listen to offers below their £15million valuation of the striker, and don’t appear too keen on our offer of £12million plus Matt Jarvis.

Slaven Bilic is thought to be very interested in making Austin a Hammer before the transfer window closes and you’d imagine the board may eventually buckle to QPR’s demands, mostly because we’d certainly get our money’s worth from a player who scored 20 goals in the Premier League last season.

Alex Song’s switch to the Hammers is also one that we should expect to go through by the end of the month. Talks are apparently ongoing with the midfielder and both David Gold and David Sullivan have publicly admitted their interest in bringing him to the club permanently.

And finally, reports in Spain are still claiming that we’re on the verge of a £5million deal for Barcelona’s Alen Halilovic.

The young Croatian midfielder has been labelled ‘the next Luka Modric’ in the past but is thought to be seeking more first team opportunities away from the Catalan giants.

Slaven Bilic will know all about his compatriot and is undoubtedly keen on bringing him to east London. If we managed to pull it off, we’ll have one Europe’s most highly-rated wonder kids on our books, so let’s hope we manage to get it off the line.

All of the aforementioned deals are ones that the club could and should try and get done. David Gold said a minimum of two new faces are expected to come in and, by the looks of it, we could be seeing at least four.

Given our injury record over the years, as well as the real possibility of playing in the Europa League group stages this season, the need for a large squad with several options is paramount, and each of the four names above would arguably complete our squad – though you’d argue we’re still very light in options at right-back.

Raul Jimenez – Loan deal, risk free.
Charlie Austin – No brainer, even at £15m
Alen Halilovic – Absolute steal at £5m
Alex Song – Experienced in Europe and also a steal

Signing at least one or two of these players would cap a very successful window, but all four appear to be very much on course to be at the club once the window slams shut!

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