West Ham were in the market for a backup goalkeeper as soon as David Moyes arrived at the club to replace the sacked Manuel Pellegrini and after a protracted transfer saga, have finally got one.

Former stopper Darren Randolph has rejoined the club on a three-and-a-half year contract from Middlesbrough, who he signed for in 2017 when he was allowed to leave by Slaven Bilic, who had signed Joe Hart on a season-long loan from Manchester City.

Randolph is now back in east London after two-and-a-half years away and could make his second debut for the club this weekend against Everton after Lukasz Fabianski's recurrence of a hip injury in defeat at Sheffield United on Friday night. Football.London understands the club wanted to make sure Randolph was ready to play.

The Pole is expected to be out for at last two weeks so Randolph, if he is fit enough having only just passed a medical at the second time of asking, could play against Everton, Leicester City, the FA Cup tie against West Bromwich Albion and potentially the Premier League meeting with Liverpool on February 29.

After the horrific performances of Roberto initially, a new goalkeeper was always on the horizon. Martin's error against Sheffield United that led to Oli McBurnie's winner was further proof the club needed a more reliable stopper.

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Now Moyes has that, he still needs more. The club is still desperately short of a quality, box-to-box midfielder and another frontman thanks to continuing injury problems for Michail Antonio.

We are halfway through the transfer window and the Hammers have made one recruit. It can be difficult to sign in January, Hammers vice-chairman Karren Brady said exactly that on Tuesday in an interview with Sky News, and there is no doubt transfers can be tough with inflated prices and clubs not willing to let players go mid-season.

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(Image: Photo by Alex Livesey - Danehouse/Getty Images)

The team clearly needs bolstering, it was one of the first things Moyes alluded to when he returned to the club, but it's taken nearly half of the window to sign a backup goalkeeper.

West Ham's recruitment strategy is coming under enormous fire following the sacking of director of football Mario Husillos, leaving transfer strategy back in the hands of co-chairman David Sullivan.

Sullivan has a trusted network of agents he deals with and has instructed them to find players. Gedson Fernandes was one of them but he has joined Spurs on an 18-month loan deal with a permanent option of more than £40m. That option was what swayed it for Benfica as the Hammers weren't willing to put that in. Fernandes was touted to a whole host of Premier League clubs, not just West Ham.

West Ham's scouting network has decreased in the wake of Pellegrini's sacking. His son was employed as a scout, so was Husillos' son, Mario Jnr and they both left along with their fathers. Husillos himself attended games to scout players and, obviously, no longer does.

Another scout, Juan Carlos Valdivia, has also departed. Brady herself said in her column in The Sun on February 15 last year that the Hammers employ seven scouts so, by process of elimination, the club now has two scouts in Europe. By Premier League standards, that is simply embarassing.

It's not uncommon for scouts to be employed on a freelance basis but looking at official club staff only Jordan Miles, who is head of recruitment analysis, seems to fit the bill as a scout.

So agents and intermediaries are ones trying to get deals done. More often that not, they simply work for their own personal gains and not for the clubs, so it's an incredibly risky strategy Sullivan is employing. Football.London understands that some intermediaries are also working as de facto scouts for the club.

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As things stand, Randolph's signing is not set to be immediately followed by any more. The last week of the transfer window could be very busy, just like it was last time Moyes was at the club when West Ham failed in their chase for Leander Dendoncker, who is now a regular starter at Wolves.

Joao Mario did arrive however but took his time to get going, firing towards the end of the season and he's now plying his trade in the Russian leagues with Lokomotiv Moscow. The less said about Patrice Evra, the better.

A protest against the club's board will be taking place at London Stadium on Saturday prior to the Everton game, between 1pm and 2pm, at the Aquatics Centre in the Olympic Park, organised by group Hammers United.

With the club named in the top 20 richest Premier League clubs in the world earlier this week, anger is rising at a perceived lack of investment in a team that is languishing one point above the Premier League relegation zone.

While Moyes temporarily lifted the gloom with two wins in his first two games back at the club, the January transfer window has shown yet more pitfalls behind the scenes at the club.

They are nowhere near safe from relegation with a tough run of games coming up and have a squad that desperately needs an injection of life. It's reaching a desperate stage.