Monday, 20th January, 2014
West Ham manager Sam Allardyce is left more than frustrated with the inability to make signings this winter, but is hopeful on a few late ones.
The Hammers have failed to land names such as John Heitinga, Ishak Belfodil and Marco Motta, amid poor results in their league and cup adventures.
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Indeed, the only major signing in this window was, in fact, that of former striker Carlton Cole on a new 18-month deal.
With West Ham set to face Manchester City in the second leg of their League Cup tie tomorrow – off a 6-0 first-leg scoreline – the pressure is huge on Allardyce.
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However, the manager today told a press conference, relayed via the BBC: "Frustrated is an understatement in the amount of deals we've tried to do in the last six to eight weeks.
"There are very few deals happening across the board at the moment because it's difficult to get the right players at this time.
"Later in this window things generally get a bit easier in financial terms, in that clubs want to move the players on.
"Our need is to produce a really good signing that can hit the ground running and have an impact right away."
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