According to Tony Cottee, who spoke to Sportingbet in an exclusive interview, a good successful season for West Ham would be to finish the season in the top half of the table and maybe sneak into 7th place to achieve the Europa League.
So far, unfortunately, that doesn’t seem to be the case. The Irons are currently sitting in the 15th position of the Premier League table and many are looking towards the transfer window in January to, perhaps, bring them a much-needed intervention.
Although there are a million players linked with Liverpool, it seems as if one such strongly linked player currently plies his trade in Belgium but it looks as though the Reds could be set to miss out. Bleacher Report have claimed that Sander Berge will choose West Ham over Liverpool. Berge is quite a popular candidate for many teams such as Chelsea and Napoli as well.
However, it looks as though neither Champions League side will bag Berge. Rumours are going around that the Norwegian is keen to move to East London, citing that he trained with the Hammers when he was 17. Last season, Genk won the Belgian top-flight with Berge playing 28 matches. He has played 90 minutes in all four of their Champions League matches this season.
He’d definitely be a great addition to the Irons, Former Genk’s head coach Albert Stuivenberg had exceptional things to say about him:
“He is already very mature. He is intelligent, reads the game well, and takes the initiative. He has the potential to become a future leader.”
Unfortunately, however, West Ham may be close to losing Felippe Anderson. It was considered a great feat when the Hammers attained Anderson as “West Ham have been linked with various signings over the past four seasons, but they never seem to convert any”.
Speaking to Football Insider, the former Premier League hotshot, Laura O’Leary, admitted that if Anderson ends up stuck on the bench then there won’t be a shortage of takers. Anderson missed the Hammers’ 1-0 win over Southampton due to illness and Bent suggested that his first-team spot wasn’t exactly waiting for him.
This could prove to be a major concern for West Ham as having a player like Anderson on the bench is dangerous since other teams will know what quality he has got and if he is sitting on West Ham’s bench then there’s going to be no shortage of takers. Although, the 26-year-old has failed to score in any of his outings this season but has registered four assists.
The Irons have also reportedly been interested in signing Inter Milan hitman Gabriel Barbosa. A fantastic player, Barbosa has scored 36 goals in 41 games on loan in Brazil with Flamengo, and he was absolutely on fire. However, he comes with a hefty price-tag of €22million and £80,000-per-week. One thing’s for sure, if West Ham do manage to acquire the Brazilian’s services, it could end up being one seriously good signing for the east London outfit.
