West Ham plot huge transfer overall including big money defender and £15m lethal striker

It was confirmed on Thursday (23 May) that Julen Lopetegui would indeed become the new manager of West Ham on 1 July - following the expiry of David Moyes contract this summer.

The former Wolves head coach now has huge plans to overhaul the squad and is hoping to seal a reunion with Molineux’s defender Maximilian Kilman as one of at least six signings, according to reports on The Guardian. However, any financial decisions this summer will have been hugely affected by Lucas Paqueta being charged by the Football Association with alleged betting breaches.

The Brazilian midfielder has an £85m release clause and had long been a target for Manchester City. He is now, however, unlikely to move this summer and the Irons will have to recalculate their potential budget, with such a big potential sale now likely to be off the table.

Mohammed Kudus has been another set to depart the London Stadium this summer but Lopetegui’s new side are reportedly determined to keep the Ghanaian forward, whose release clause will become active next year.

The Spanish coach has been signed on a two-year deal with the option of a one-year extension and has vowed to make ‘big, big noise’ once he steps into the hot-seat. Speaking to the press after confirming his appointment, the ex-Wolves boss said: “We had other opportunities but I am very happy that West Ham chose me because I chose West Ham too, so we are really happy about this. We came here with the idea and the thought to make a big, big noise.

“I feel that we have a fantastic platform. I think the last few years have been very good years to have this base, of course, but my ambition as a coach is always to be better and better, to achieve more and bigger aims and to encourage and improve the players, the team, and to compete because football is about this – to compete. We are very ambitious about this.”

After conceding 74 Premier League goals this season, defensive reinforcements are set to be the first order of the day for West Ham and while it was reported that the Irons were seeking a deal for the 28-year-old Flamengo centre-back Fabricio Bruno, they could now switch focus to reviving their interest in Kilman, who had previously been targeted by Moyes in January.

Kilman, who is one of Wolves’s most important figures, has been given a £45m price tag and Gary O’Neil is not set to let his club captain leave Molineux easily.

The lethal Stuttgart striker Serhou Guirassy has also been linked with a potential move to the Irons. Guirassy, who has a £15m release clause in his contract, has scored 28 goals in 28 Bundesliga fixtures for the league runners-up this campaign. The Guinean international, however, is also of transfer interest to AC Milan following his rampant 2023/24 season. The reports have also linked the Irons with moves for Atalanta’s Europa League final hero Ademola Lookman as a possibility on the left-wing; Sporting Lisbon’s Marcus Edwards and Coventry’s Callum O’Hare. West Ham are also set to be offered the chance to buy Chelsea’s Armando Broja who has spent the last six months on loan at Fulham.