West Ham set to sign former England international

There’s seemingly no stopping West Ham in the transfer window now, as no sooner have they signed Konstantinos Mavropanos, than they’re in the market for a former England international.

David Sullivan had kept a tight hold of the purse strings at the London Stadium until the club had sold Declan Rice to Arsenal, and it took a while for David Moyes to get in some of the signings that he wanted.

However, with Edson Alvarez and James Ward-Prowse joining Mavropanos, the Scot is starting to build up a decent squad once more.

There are nine days left of the summer window, and that represents ample opportunity for the east Londoners to add one or two more players to the roster before the September 1 deadline.

One of those is likely to be former Man United and England star, Jesse Lingard, a player who had a successful loan spell at the London Stadium before opting to ill-advisedly rejoin United when a move at that point to the Hammers seemed the more obvious one.

After a season at Nottingham Forest, Lingard, now a free agent, was training with the Hammers to keep his fitness up, and it now appears that the club are willing to offer him a short-term deal.

“Lingard is looking very good fitness-wise. At this stage, any offer would be short-term, around 6-12 months with a lower wage but incentive-based,” content creator, ExWHUemployee, said on his West Ham Way podcast (subscription required).

“At the start, it was described to me as a ‘tiny chance’ – now there is a ‘chance’, it seems it’s getting more likely.”

Though it’s believed new sporting director, Tim Steidten, prefers younger and more continental-type players, it seems Moyes has won this particular battle, and it remains to be seen if Lingard can recapture the form of his loan spell in East London.

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Konstantinos Mavropanos injury update emerges as West Ham United face Brighton with Nayef Aguerd suspended after Chelsea

Konstantinos Mavropanos is “currently nursing a minor injury” and won’t make his West Ham debut against Brighton this weekend, according to the Evening Standard.

The newspaper reported on their website Wednesday (23 August) that the Greek international “will not be ready” for the clash on Saturday after becoming the third signing of the window at the London Stadium.

The club confirmed the £20million arrival on Tuesday after a deal with Stuttgart, but he won’t face the Seagulls at the Amex.

Nayef Aguerd is suspended for the Brighton game after being sent off in the 3-1 win over Chelsea on Sunday, so Angelo Ogbonna looks set to replace him in the line up with Mavropanos unavailable.

The former Arsenal man should fit in at West Ham perfectly if he is already unavailable, since one of the primary reasons David Moyes wanted another centre-back was repeated injuries at the position.

With Aguerd out for the next game it would have been perfect timing for Mavropanos to slot right in, if the manager was confident he didn’t need time to get up to speed, but apparently that won’t be an option.

Despite a tumultuous summer that has seen Declan Rice leave along with Gianluca Scamacca and Manuel Lanzini, and clashes behind the scenes delay incoming transfer business, the season has got off to a reasonable start.

The win over Chelsea makes it four points from two, so maintaining momentum into the meeting with the current league-leaders is vital.

Moyes should at least still have both of his other summer signings in James Ward-Prowse and Edson Alvarez available, which is arguably more important given the lack of alternative options in central midfield.

There doesn’t appear to be any indication that Mavropanos is set to miss further games, so while it will surely be a minor frustration to the manager to not have the cover he wanted since he immediately needs it in light of Aguerd’s sending off, neither the injury or the suspension are a prolonged situation.

In other West Ham news, “first-choice” Irons star “keen” to explore exit as the club pursues multiple new signings.