West Ham United will not be getting any favours from Premier League rivals as Nuno Espirito Santo chases one of the best bargain buys of the January transfer window. Certainly not from Burnley or local rivals Chelsea.
If the Hammers left their supporters frustrated by leaving the bulk of their business until the final few weeks of the window last summer – club legend Tony Cottee felt Graham Potter was shafted somewhat by a lack of investment in the centre of the park until the late arrivals of Mateus Fernandes and Soungoutou Magassa – Nuno Espirito Santo is at least getting his wish when it comes to speedy reinforcements.
The transfer window hadn’t even officially opened when West Ham United moved into pole position to sign both Pablo and Valentin ‘Taty’ Castellanos, to a soundtrack of Jools Holland honky-tonk.
Pablo looks set to be West Ham’s first signing of January…💪
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According to club insider ExWHUEmployee, Pablo arrived in London for a medical on Thursday. Lazio forward Castellanos is set to join as well, meaning the Premier League survival battlers will have spent £43 million on two number nines within the opening days of 2026.
Now, Pablo may prove to be quite the bargain at £17.5 million. The statistics show that West Ham are signing a striker more ruthless than Erling Haaland, albeit in a league where Darwin Nunez and Viktor Gyokeres hit a staggering tally of goals.
Pablo sits in the 99th percentile across Europe when it comes to shot conversion.
FC Utrecht left-back Souffian El Karouani, though, feels more like a ‘bargain’ in the traditional sense. But as obstacles tumble in pursuit of two new strikers, neither Burnley nor Chelsea have done Nuno any favours in pursuit of the Eredivisie ‘Assist King’ and his ‘amazing left foot’ [Vandaag Inside].
Photo by Roy Lazet/Soccrates /Getty ImagesWest Ham United were not helped by Chelsea and Burnley in Souffian El Karouani battle
Dutch publication RTV reported on the other side of Christmas that El Karouani was ‘on his way’ to West Ham.
He still might be, of course.
Utrecht owner Frans van Seumeren is ready to sell, as the Dutch-born Moroccan sees his contract run down. The Mirror believe that El Karouani could be available for as little as £3 million.
There is, though, the very real possibility that Ajax throw their hat into the ring and give West Ham a serious run for their money.
If a new left-back to challenge El Hadji Malick Diouf and Ollie Scarles feels like a luxury rather than a necessity, the same cannot be said of Ajax.
De Telegraaf report that the top priority of the Dutch giants this month was to bring Jorrel Hato back to the Johan Cruyff Arena. Ajax have struggled to replace Hato following his £33.5 million departure in the summer. So who better to fill that void than the man himself?
BBC Sport, though, say that Chelsea have now scotched those plans. Former skipper Hato will not be leaving on loan this month. Quilindschy Hartman, Burnley’s ex-Feyenoord wideman, has since ruled out a move to the Dutch capital of his own.
“With this message, I would like to make it clear that I am not going to Ajax,” Hartman said this week. “As long as I am a Burnley player I will give everything for the club.
“I think it’s good that I clear up this because I’m the only one who knows how it is.”
Scott Parker, Burnley manager and former West Ham stalwart, has since confirmed that Hartman remains a key part of his plans.
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Utrecht owner Frans van Seumeren would let El Karouani move to England
So could this see Ajax go all guns blazing for Souffian El Karouani? De Telegraaf did report a few days ago, when Hato and Hartman were still being pursued, that a set-piece wizard with 15 assists this season already had also been ‘explored’ by the 2019 Champions League semi-finalists.
“[Utrecht] have to keep growing. The biggest challenge, and this applies to almost every football club, is the financial side of things. You want to have a balanced budget,” Van Seumeren recently told Algemeen Dagblad.
“A club like FC Utrecht sometimes needs a financial boost, but you also have a certain responsibility. If anyone knows Russia, it’s me. So we’ll have to do it differently.
“Souffian has always said, ‘FC Utrecht can make money off me’. Hopefully, we’ll reach an amicable agreement. Preferably with a longer contract, otherwise I hope we can manage to sell him in the winter.”
What happens next, regarding West Ham’s interest, may depend on whether or not a certain 20-year-old academy graduate can build on his stand-out performance against Brighton in Tuesday’s 2-2 draw.
Ollie Scarles ‘shut the haters up’ amid a rousing reception at the London Stadium.
Nuno could not have been happier to see the reigning Young Player of the Year aim a jab firmly into the corneas of his critics only three days after that late blunder gifted Fulham a winner.
“I think he bounced back and mistakes are part of the game,” Nuno, who hopes to see Diouf return from the Africa Cup of Nations sooner rather than later, said before West Ham’s trip to Wolves on Saturday.
“Ollie has our support, he has our confidence and I think honestly he played a very good game [on Tuesday. It shows maturity, it shows realisation that mistakes are part [of the game] but put it over your back and move forward.
“I’m delighted for Ollie and thankful for the reception that Ollie got from our fans. It was beautiful to see.”
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