West Ham's stunning £72m January transfer window predicted - with Rangers, Newcastle and AC Milan deals

It has been a mixed start to life as West Ham United manager for Julen Lopetegui.

After being named as successor to David Moyes during the summer, the former Wolves boss got his Hammers reign underway with a 2-1 home defeat against Aston Villa before getting off the mark seven days later when Tomas Soucek and Jarrod Bowen netted in a 2-0 win at Crystal Palace. The positivity continued when Bowen got the only goal of a Carabao Cup win at Premier League rivals Bournemouth before the Hammers ventured into the international break on the back of a defeat against reigning champions Manchester City.

A last-gasp equaliser against Fulham could be just the catalyst the club need for an improved run of form, however, and they’ll be ready to go all guns blazing in their home clash against Chelsea this Saturday.

Lopetegui was backed in the transfer market as the likes of Leeds United forward Crysencio Summerville, Borussia Dortmund striker Niclas Fullkrug and Wolves captain Max Kilman were all brought in as the Hammers spent around £125m on new signings. There were departures too - but we wondered what business Lopetegui could conduct during the January transfer window. So we fired up Football Manager 2024, used the editor to get the Hammers squad to its current state and allowed the world’s most popular managerial simulation to predict what January could bring for West Ham.

OUT

In the real world, there are some major decisions facing the Hammers hierarchy as several players approach the final months of their current deals at the London Stadium. In this virtual world, those decisions have already been made as four players headed to pastures new in cut-price deals before their contracts came to an end.

Firstly, Aaron Cresswell moved north of the border as he joined Rangers in a £4m deal and Michail Antonio ventured stateside as a £5m deal took him to LA Galaxy. A £1m offer was enough to see Lukasz Fabianski join Bundesliga champions Bayer Leverkusen and Danny Ings returned to former club Southampton after they agreed a £4m deal with the Hammers.

However, one player that will remain at the London Stadium is Vladmir Coufal after he agreed a one-year extension to his current deal.

IN

There were a number of incomings during the January transfer window as Lopetegui continued to rebuild the squad he inherited from David Moyes during the summer transfer window. Firstly, the Hammers boss brought in Kieran Trippier after a £12m deal was agreed with Newcastle United before switching his attention to the left-hand side of his defence with a £21m move for Ipswich Town star Leif Davis.

There was an eye-catching addition in the middle of the park as Lopetegui saw off competition from Atletico Madrid and Roma to sign Valencia’s highly-rated young midfielder Javi Guerra in a £25m deal and competition was added in attack with the loan signing of AC Milan striker Luka Jovic.