Sign up to FREE email alerts from Football London - West Ham Subscribe Thank you for subscribing See our privacy notice Invalid Email

West Ham currently don't have a manager in place yet after Davd Moyes departed the club but the process to recruit another one is well underway.

Co-owner David Sullivan has already met with Shakhtar Donetsk boss Paulo Fonseca for talks over taking the job, while he is also scheduled to meet Unai Emery later this week. But, it's Rafa Benitez who is the number one target for the Hammers co-owner to take over the reigns.

What is clear though that for whoever is in charge, they need to get busy in the transfer market and they won't have a lot of time to do it either. It's open now - a month earlier than usual - and closes on August 9 instead of the usual August 31, meaning every team will have all the players signed by the time the new season starts.

There is no head of recruitment to get the ball moving at West Ham this summer thanks to Tony Henry being sacked. David Sullivan is expected to take an active role in transfers once again but whoever the new manager is will also want a big say in the transfer revolution expected to sweep through east London.

There are plenty of areas that need addressing and there will be no shortage of players linked to fill them

Upgrades in midfield

Hammers assistant manager Stuart Pearce has scouted Anderlecht midfielder/defender Leander Dendoncker twice in 2018 with a view to making a summer swoop having missed out on him in January.

West Ham's midfield hasn't been mobile enough, Cheikhou Kouyate has had a poor season and Mark Noble has been inconsistent. Edimilson Fernandes missed a large chunk of the campaign through injury and has looked rusty and suspect since returning, while the team has sorely missed the presence of Pedro Obiang in defensive midfield.

The Spaniard is an automatic starter when fit and he needs a bit more mobility around him, hence the potential move for Dendoncker. Rodrigo Battaglia of Sporting Lisbon is another name that has been mentioned and his teammate, William Carvalho is once again expected to be of interest to the Hammers.

Fulham's Tom Cairney is another target but a lot will depend on whether he is promoted to the top flight with Fulham if they make it through the play-offs. Slavisa Jokanovic could be West Ham's manager next season and that could help a lot to get that deal home should he decide to move - again, hinging on the Cottagers progress through the rest of the season.

Danny Drinkwater has been frozen out at Chelsea after just one season there and could be available this summer as well with the Hammers linked.

Kouyate's future is certainly up in the air and if the Hammers signed one or maybe two midfielders, it could spell the end for the Senegal skipper in the capital.

If Paulo Fonseca gets the gig, Shakhtar star man Fred is an absolute must-sign if the club can get a deal sorted, though he may have eyes on a bigger team than the Hammers. He is the midfielder the Hammers are crying out for.

Another right back to provide back-up and competition for Pablo Zabaleta

The experienced Argentine has missed just one game this season which for him on a personal level was an excellent campaign but in truth, his place was never really threatened.

Sam Byram has struggled with injury for the past two seasons, Declan Rice can play there in an emergency, as can Michail Antonio, but outside of those two there is little alternative.

Fulham's Ryan Fredericks is of big interest and has yet to commit to the west Londoners with his contract running out at the end of this season. The Hammers would love to get him in on a free and he would provide genuine competition, maybe even an alternative, for Zabaleta who, lest we forget, is out of contract next summer as well.

One - if not two - strikers to take the load off Marko Arnautovic

(Image: Catherine Ivill/Getty Images)

You could say the club already has one that can do that and they do - Javier Hernandez. But, his lack of game time under Moyes and now a knee injury might well mean we have seen the last of him in claret and blue. If Moyes stays beyond next weekend, you can't see Hernandez staying put.

Jordan Hugill won't be ready for the Premier League next season after the grand total of 22 minutes for this season and was purchased just in case Moyes couldn't keep the team up. He's likely to leave on loan to the Championship for next season.

That will leave a vacancy for one or two front men to come through the doors of West Ham this summer. Aleksandar Mitrovic has been watched twice by the Hammers and has torn up the Championship at Fulham on loan since January, with a future away from Newcastle looking more likely to be the case than not.

Jonathan Bamba of St Etienne has been linked but is an unknown quantity and if West Brom are relegated, no doubt Salomon Rondon will be available. Fedor Smolov has been heavily linked before and is likely to be mentioned once again for a move. Marko Arnautovic certainly needs help next season, he can't do it all by himself like he has had to to at times this season.

Maybe another centre back or two

James Collins has yet to be offered a new contract, Winston Reid is injured too often and the club sold Jose Fonte in January so West Ham were an injury away from having a real defensive crisis from the turn of the year to now but thankfully, Declan Rice and Angelo Ogbonna were both excellent - particularly the Italian who is vastly underrated.

If Moyes does stay, he will want to ditch the 5-4-1 and play a more orthodox 4-1-2-3, bringing back Michail Antonio into the fold once he has returned from injury and with Obiang anchoring the midfield with, maybe Dendoncker and Mark Noble.

Jonny Evans of West Brom has been linked, as has teammate Craig Dawson, Dendoncker can play there as well but make no bones about it, the Hammers need more depth at centre back thanks to the injury-prone Reid and potentially losing Collins.

Again, if Fonseca is handed the reigns in the capital, one of his current players Taras Stepanenko would be a shrewd move. A proper defender and Ukrainian bruiser, he'll love the physicality of the Premier League and will no doubt put a few noses out of joint while doing so.

Sort the goalkeeper out

Joe Hart isn't likely to stick around and Adrian has been in and out of the team this season so is not the answer.

Sam Johnstone, currently on-loan at Aston Villa from Manchester Untied, is of interest. Should Villa make it back into the Premier League through the Championship play-offs then the Hammers might have a struggle to get him in but is worth making a move on.

Another Fulham stopper in Marcus Bettinelli has been rumoured to be a target for West Ham this summer. Nathan Trott is not ready to be a top flight number one but may well find himself as a regular number two next season depending on what happens this summer.

Tom Heaton from Burnley is another option after Nick Pope took his jersey at Burnley and there is no reason to believe Heaton will get it back. PSG stopper Alphonse Areola has reportedly been talking with Rafa Benitez this summer with the possibility of following him if he decides to leave Newcastle.

Keep up to date with the latest news, features and exclusive from football.london via the freefootball.london app for iPhone and Android.

Available to download from the App Store and Google Play.