West Ham respond to fresh offer for key starter amid exit request

West Ham are standing firmly by their valuation of a player who is said to want to leave this month. The Hammers are fighting to get out of the relegation zone, closing the gap to five points last weekend with a win over Tottenham away from home.

That was an encouraging sign for the Hammers, but it was also a rare sign of good form, and Spurs need to find consistency rather than sporadic wins. Nottingham Forest look a much-improved outfit under Sean Dyche, and they do, on paper, have the better of the two squads.

With Leeds United pulling away, West Ham may well be relying on catching West Ham, and so they must take action to arm Santo with the tools he needs to pull off the escape. Three signings have already been made, with Taty Castellanos arguably the best of the three.

But the iron are also aware than they could lose one of their most creative players this month in Lucas Paquetá. The Brazilian is said to want an exit this month, with a return to his home country on the cards in the form of a move to Flamengo.

The Brazilian league has become wealthier recently, particularly among the top clubs, but Flamengo are still not willing to meet West Ham’s initial asking price of £50million. With the player wanting to leave, there has been speculation that the Hammers will drop their asking price, which is likely the case, but they are not willing to slash a huge chunk off the price.

According to The Athletic, Flamengo have now offered £32.9million upfront and add-ons worth £3million, but the Hammers are said to have rejected that offer. The Iron are likely to hold out for at least £40million, given they initially wanted £50million.

Santo on new signings

Speaking about the signing of Keiber Lamadrid on Friday, Santo said: “He’s a young player, that the Club has brought in. He’s not long finished his season, so he’s in the process of pre-season now, and isn’t ready to play. But, we’ll assess him and see.

“It’s normal for the Club to look to bring in players for the future, but right now I’m focused on the current situation and players for now. The Club knows the profiles of the players we need, because we need to rebalance the squad.

“Taty [Castellanos] and Pablo [Felipe] have come in, and they bring us a lot of options and energy, but we’ll keep working until the end of the transfer window.”

On the impact of Pablo Felipe and Taty Castellanos, Santo added: “They are helping the team a lot, and they’re good options. They’re talented players and hard workers, but of course we always expect more from them.

“For all of the players, I expect more - more consistency, and instead of one goal or assist, two. We want more because we know the talent is there, and always we want to help our players produce more. We are pushing them because that’s what’s required in this situation. Always we want more actions and commitment. That doesn’t mean we don’t have it, but always we want more because the situation requires much more from all of us.”

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