32, 30, 28, 29. Not a strange ‘what number comes next' sequence, but the ages of West Ham United’s signings so far this summer.

They have also brought in 16-year-old Anouar El Mhassani from Ajax, but he won’t be part of the first team.

What you notice with the arrivals is that they obviously aren’t getting any younger, and while that doesn’t mean they don’t have anything to offer, it perhaps isn’t the most long-term thinking.

Joe Hart is of course only a loan, but Pablo Zabaleta is already the wrong side of 30, and Marko Arnautovic and Javier Hernández aren’t far away, and you would imagine their resale value wouldn’t be particularly large.

But perhaps, that isn’t why the Hammers are signing them – they want players who can have an immediate impact.

Yet, according to French newspaper L’Équipe, Slaven Bilić’s side are the English club most likely to sign in-demand Celtic striker Moussa Dembélé – a move that could change their transfer window.

Evaluating the transfer window so far

Undoubtedly, this summer has gone a lot better than the previous one in terms of transfers for the Hammers.

In 2016, they started out with hopes of attracting the likes of Alexandre Lacazette or Zlatan Ibrahimović to the London Stadium, but ended up with Simone Zaza, who it would be polite to describe as disappointing.



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Their arrivals this summer are a former Premier League winning captain, a loan move for England’s No.1, one of their mid-table rivals’ hottest talents and a forward who scored 59 goals for Manchester United. That’s definitely an improvement on last year.

You can tell the West Ham board are pleased, with David Gold tweeting it was “a great window” after Hernández’s signing.

And indeed, they seem to be looking for quality – all four of their signings are proven in the Premier League, but as I mentioned earlier, they’re not getting any younger.

Undoubtedly, they’re all on nice wages in east London and there could be a risk that West Ham is seen as the place for those looking for their last big payday.

Add to that the signings of 33-year-old José Fonte and 29-year-old Robert Snodgrass in January, it doesn’t dispel that worry.

Even David Sullivan admitted that the policy is short-term at the moment in an interview on talkSPORT.

“We had a policy up to now to buy players for tomorrow, not today,” he said.

“We made a decision with the manager to buy players proven in the Premier League, who’ve been here before and who are of an age where they’re not being bought for tomorrow – but today.

“Long term it’s not a great strategy but short term it is. Hopefully we’ll buy one or two more players, investments in the future, while at the same time doing what’s best for the club.”

Dembélé: A different profile

Yet, the potential signing, or at least apparent interest in Dembélé suggests the club aren’t all about the short-term at the moment.

At 21, he is definitely a player for the long-term and if West Ham were able to bring him to the London Stadium, it would be a massive coup.

He is undoubtedly one of the hottest prospects in European football right now, with a massive future.

Dembélé’s debut season in Scotland saw him grab 32 goals for Celtic after arriving from Fulham, and he was subject of Chelsea transfer rumours back in January, with Antonio Conte’s side reportedly being quoted £40million for him.

Undoubtedly that’s not a figure that West Ham would go near for someone unproven in the Premier League, but perhaps the fee of around £20-£25million suggested by L’Équipe is more likely.

Indeed, reports from France suggest he does want to leave Celtic after just a year, with RMC Sport claiming earlier this month he was keen on a move to Germany or England.

Of course, he doesn’t fit the profile of the players who have been there and done it in the top flight, as Sullivan suggested, but that is a risky strategy long term.

Mixing those players with the likes of Dembélé – upcoming, young players, could be the perfect recipe for success.

You would back him and Hernández to break Gold and Sullivan’s striker curse – they have signed 33 strikers in the past seven years, none of whom have been particularly outstanding.

But a front line of Hernández, Andy Carroll and Dembélé as options would be one of the best around in the Premier League, although obviously keeping all three of them happy would not be easy – you would perhaps see Bilić preferring to play two up front, which he did try last season, but mainly stuck with one up front, as is the norm nowadays.

Of course, a signing is not necessarily that likely, and you would expect Dembélé to be chased by clubs with European football to offer him now.

But that is the dream for the Hammers – and signing the young Frenchman would help them cement their place as contenders for a European spot.