Five dream signings West Ham could still make this summer – including Liverpool & AC Milan stars

It’s been a pretty quiet summer at the London Stadium so far, with the biggest move by far being the departure of Mohammed Kudus – but we can expect things to speed up before long, with Graham Potter’s squad plainly in need of some fresh blood as West Ham try to move on from a challenging 2024/25 season.

Media reports have connected the Hammers with bids for a number of players, and we’ve pulled together the latest updates on some of the most likely new signings so you know what to expect over the final month of the summer transfer window.

West Ham surely won’t sign all of the six players discussed below. There is competition for some of these signatures, and a report from The Daily Mail suggests that despite earning £55m from the sale of Kudus, the club will need to make further sales before making any substantial signings. But some of these players should be strutting their stuff in the East End soon…

Mads Hermansen

Signing a new goalkeeper to fill the boots (gloves?) of Łukasz Fabiański, who has left as a free agent after his contract expired in June, probably isn’t at the top of every West Ham fan’s wishlist, but it may well be that it’s one of the first things that gets sorted in August.

Reports suggest that the club have already made a formal approach for Leicester City’s Mads Hermansen, perhaps in part on the recommendation of goalkeeping coach of Casper Ankergren, who coached his countrymen when Hermansen was playing for Brøndby in Denmark. That’s unless you believe Fabrizio Romano instead, who reckons that they’re planning to sign Botafogo’s John Victor.

Given that first choice Alphonse Aréola wasn’t entirely convincing last season and even lost his place to Fabiański at one point, this is perhaps a more important deal that may at first appear to be the case – either way, it looks like a new goalkeeper is on the way in the coming days, depending on how negotiations progress.

Ardon Jashari

West Ham have long been linked with a bid for the gifted Club Brugge midfielder but their hopes of securing a deal for the deep-lying playmaker appeared to be over after AC Milan entered into active negotiations – but that deal has hit the rocks over the past week or so.

Milan seem unwilling to pay Brugge’s alleged £35m asking price and the haggling between the two teams has become rather fractious, with some reports suggesting that Brugge are less than happy with the way that Milan are conducting themselves.

The deal could easily collapse, paving the way for West Ham to make their move if they have the funds available. The 22-year-old Switzerland international would prefer to move to Milan but may not have the choice. Nottingham Forest are also widely reported to be interested and could provide competition for a player whose quality in possession certainly fits the mould of a Potter player.

Yunus Musah

Should West Ham fail to sign Jashari or need a slightly cheaper option, they may make a move for American midfielder Yunus Musah – who may be forced out of AC Milan’s squad should they eventually get a convoluted deal for Jashari done.

Musah’s name has been in the gossip columns connected with West Ham for a long time but a bid could finally materialise this time, with £25m likely the ceiling for a transfer fee. A recent report from Goal suggests that the Hammers are waiting for Milan to drop their asking price before making a move.

The chances of a deal are so strongly interlinked with the negotiations over Jashari that it’s impossible to imagine West Ham buying both players, but one or the other heading to the London Stadium certainly seem eminently plausible. Further tying the bidding over the two midfielders together is the fact that Forest are said to be monitoring Musah too, as are Wolves. Other options include Southampton’s Mateus Fernandes, with unconfirmed reports on Friday suggesting that an approach may have been made to the Championship side.

Harvey Elliott

Of all the deals which West Ham hope to complete, their interest in the Liverpool midfielder looks the furthest from fruition as it stands, primarily because of the finances involved – West Ham have a limited transfer budget, while Elliott’s present employers are said to value him at as much as £50m.

The hero of England’s run to the European Under-21 Championship trophy in Slovakia in June, there is little doubt of Elliott’s class or of his versatility, given that he’s more than capable of playing in heart of the park or out on the wing, but he still isn’t a regular under Arne Slot and is available for sale.

West Ham have yet to make a formal approach and aren’t expected to unless another big-name player, perhaps Lucas Paquetá, leaves the club and boosts the Hammers’ spending power somewhat. If a deal does happen, it will likely be late in the transfer window.

Roberto Piccoli

If nothing else, West Ham simply have to sign a striker this summer. A centre-forward has been a clear-cut need for years now, and with so many fitness problems hanging over the heads of those forwards on the books last season, it’s impossible to imagine that there isn’t a fresh face up front come the start of September.

One of the names to pop up on the rumour mill over the past week is Cagliari’s Roberto Piccoli, a 24-year-old who bagged 10 Serie A goals last season. He wouldn’t be the most prolific option on the market, but at around £26m he wouldn’t be the most expensive either, and given West Ham’s finances it’s unlikely that they can find a 30 goal man.

Other names suggested include Bayer Leverkusen’s Amine Adli, who has been linked with several other Premier League sides including Aston Villa and Sunderland, and Artem Dobvyk, who may also be on the radar of some Serie A sides as AS Roma shop him about. There’s less competition for Piccoli, it seems.