West Ham were one of the most active teams in the summer 2024 transfer window, bringing in the likes of Max Kilman and Jean-Clair Todibo to bolster the defense while landing Crysencio Summerville and Niclas Fullkrug to add different dimensions to their attack.
So far, some of the new signings, like Kilman and Aaron Wan-Bissaka, are working out wonderfully, while others like Carlos Soler and Fullkrug have yet to play key roles in the first team.
Overall, West Ham have been disappointing on the pitch, as they are 14th in the Premier League and recently lost 5-1 to Liverpool in a result that shows an especially vast gulf in class between the Hammers and the true top English teams in terms of midfield quality.
West Ham don’t need to go out and buy a whole new squad by any means, but there are still a couple of tweaks that could greatly improve the roster for a second half surge, as opposed to last season’s woeful second half slump.
The first player to watch is Napoli center midfielder Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa, who has experience succeeding in the Premier League and LaLiga as well. Anguissa was one of Napoli’s unsung heroes and most important players in the 2022/23 season when they won the Scudetto.
On an expiring contract, West Ham could sign Anguissa for free in 2025 or for very, very cheap in the winter, provided Napoli don’t wise up and activate the extension to keep him through the 2026/27 season.
At 28, Anguissa is in his prime and could be looking for a new challenge. Napoli are in a better place now than they were last season after Antonio Conte took over the club this past summer, but given Conte’s volatile recent past, West Ham should still keep Anguissa on the radar.
An even more exciting name to upgrade a, quite frankly, mediocre West Ham center midfield is 20-year-old Monaco phenom Lamine Camara, who is quietly forming one of the best midfield pairings in Europe alongside veteran Swiss star Denis Zakaria.
Camara already has two goal contributions this season with 2.3 key passes per game and nearly six combined tackles and interceptions per game. Those are outstanding all-around numbers that speak to Camara’s quality on the ball and in defense.
West Ham have three strong defenders in the defensive midfield among Tomas Soucek, Edson Alvarez, and veteran LaLiga summer signing Guido Rodriguez. However, only Guido is a competent passer of those three, and none of them are progressive passers or deep playmakers. They aren’t even top carriers either.
Camara is showing that he is at least as good as those players defensively and already significantly better in an attacking sense. He’s really one for the elite clubs like Bayern Munich and Barcelona to watch, but West Ham could compete for Camara if they get in the door early enough with a competitive bid.
Finally, the best thing for West Ham to do is shore up depth in their squad by signing talented, forgotten players on expiring, pre-agreed free agent deals. West Ham have one of the better starting left backs in the Premier League in Emerson Palmieri, a frequently overhated player at Chelsea.
But West Ham should sign a strong second option at left back, and Tottenham transfer “flop” Sergio Reguilon could be a great addition. He actually played for Julen Lopetegui at Real Madrid and Sevilla and was legitimately one of the best players in his position in LaLiga during the 2019/20 season before a doomed move to Tottenham.
In truth, Reguilon never really got a chance at Spurs, so a transfer to West Ham could help the 27-year-old get his career back on track. He had a nondescript loan spell at Manchester United, but in a short time on loan at Brentford, he registered four assists and showed the signs of quality that put him on the map back in 2019/20 in Seville.
The managing editor of The Trivela Effect, Kevin has 15 years of experience in digital media. He covered Real Madrid from 2019-2022 for The Real Champs as a site manager. You can contact him at the site’s official Twitter handle @TrivelaEffect or via the site’s official email thetrivelaeffect@gmail.com.