West Ham United boss David Moyes has reiterated his intentions to be challenging for European football this season, despite currently sitting a point clear of the relegation zone.
The Hammers, whose top seven finishes in the last two seasons have been enough to earn qualification for the Europa League and the Europa Conference League, have started this season poorly in the Premier League, losing nine of their 15 games so far in the league that puts them 16th in the table.
That poor start comes despite spending around £160m on transfer fees for eight players in the summer, with that figure potentially nearing the £200m mark if future add-ons are later triggered.
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While four of the nine defeats have come against ‘big six’ sides, others have seen them lose on the road to Nottingham Forest and Everton, as well as home defeats to Brighton and Hove Albion, Crystal Palace and Leicester, games where West Ham should have taken much more from.
Despite being sat at the wrong end of the table, Moyes has bullishly said that despite the poor start to the campaign, he aims to be challenging for Europe, with seventh place being enough for European football in seven of the last eight seasons. West Ham currently sit seven points off seventh with 23 games remaining.
“No, I think I’m in a European battle to try and get back into Europe, like we’ve done in the last two years,” Moyes told talkSPORT .
“I think that we’ve not been that far away in any of our results, and it sounds a long way away and it probably sounds far-fetched at the moment.
“But I genuinely think we’re not that far away and expect us to get closer to the top than I do the bottom.
“Our pre-season targets have changed, because I was hoping that I would be in Europe, and I’m now saying that I want to still be challenging for Europe.
“I think I can do that in the second part of the season, so I have to do that. It’s a big job, but I didn’t think it was going to be easy in the last two years, and it wasn’t, and it’s certainly not going to be easy this year either.”
West Ham and their rivals across the Premier League will once again be able to buy, loan and sell players in the January transfer window, which is just 12 days away from re-opening.
The Hammers have already signed young Brazilian defender Luizao from Sao Paulo on a free transfer, although he will initially join the under-21s squad, while Manchester United’s Aaron Wan-Bissaka is among the names linked with West Ham, despite football.london understanding there is currently no interest in the right-back.
Speaking about the window, Moyes expects January to be quiet after their big spending summer, but has not ruled out the odd signing if the right player becomes available, or injuries take their toll.
“Nah, I don’t think we will,” added Moyes “Because I have to say the board did really well by us and spent a good amount of money in the summer, we brought in nine new players, which is more than anybody would want to do, really.
“But we needed it because we’ve got a European campaign again and because of the amount of games we played in the year before. Even this season I think we’ve played more games than any other Premier League team at this stage of the season, so we needed to add those players.
“But January will probably be a no, unless we need something through injury or someone comes available.
“But, in truth, I don’t see us doing much business, no.”
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