Wolves seal £33m deal and it threatens to be a crushing blow to West Ham's plan

The window is only one week old but early deals are threatening to leave West Ham’s transfer plans in tatters with Wolves now a serious problem.

West Ham fans will want and expect to see their team back competing in the top half of the Premier League next season.

But with the new campaign predicted to be amongst the most competitive for many years, some journalists, pundits and fans fear simply avoiding relegation may be more realistic.

Paul Merson has predicted a grim few years for the Hammers.

If that is to be how things transpire in east London, one team West Ham will have to finish above is Wolverhampton Wanderers.

The Irons and Wolves were two of the clubs grateful the bottom three were so bad again last season.

Wolves becoming a serious problem for West Ham

Vitor Pereira – once on West Ham’s alleged shortlist to replace Julen Lopetegui – did a superb job turning the Molineux side around.

He sparked a surge up the table from a perilous position, keeping Wolverhampton Wanderers up with room to spare.

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Wolves ended the season as one of the form teams in all of Europe’s major leagues.

Graham Potter has not had the same impact at West Ham, winning just five of his 19 games in charge, meaning the jury remains very much out on the Englishman in east London.

The Hammers did manage to finish just above Wolves in the end – but if they are to do the same again they must improve drastically next term.

The problem for West Ham is PSR.

While not in imminent danger of a breach or punishment, the Hammers say they have no wiggle room to make signings until players are sold.

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That leaves Potter and head of recruitment Kyle Macaulay in a state of limbo as they can only watch on in the hope their primary targets are not lured elsewhere.

That’s where Pereira’s side are now a very serious problem for the Hammers.

Because Wolves have sealed a £33m deal and it threatens to be a crushing blow to West Ham’s plan.

The Premier League rivals will be shopping in a similar market place for players this summer.

With no European football, neither can attract top stars and both are looking to perform big overhauls around a younger profile of player.

Potter himself has put on record he wants players who can grow together as a team and in terms of their future resale value.

Wolves seal £33m deal and it could be a crushing blow to West Ham’s plan

Wolves are certainly getting plenty of resale value right now and it could make for a miserable start to the window for the Hammers.

Wolves made £40m selling Max Kilman to West Ham last summer.

They have added another £65m to club coffers by offloading Matheus Cunha to Man United.

Now a £33m deal has been agreed with Man City for one-time West Ham target Rayan Ait-Nouri.

While the loss of two key players weakens Pereira’s team, it arms him with huge resources to rebuild.

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And Wolverhampton Wanderers’ first order of business after the Ait-Nouri deal will be to complete the signing of West Ham’s prime striker target Evann Guessand.

That’s if reports are anything to go by.

Macaulay identified Guessand as a top West Ham target when he arrived in east London from Chelsea in January.

Potter and Macaulay monitored Guessand’s performances last season and it’s been reported initial talks were held about signing the 23-year-old Ivory Coast star.

Lines of communication are already open between West Ham and Nice after the deal for Jean-Clair Todibo.

Flush Wolves can now beat Hammers to top target Guessand

Nice manager Franck Haise even admitted Guessand will be sold amid the Hammers links.

Sky Sports reporter Rob Dorsett revealed earlier this week that Wolves were pushing hard to beat the likes of West Ham to Guessand in a fast-moving deal.

That fast-moving deal will accelerate even further now newly-minted Wolves have another £33m coming their way.

It sums up the modern world of transfers against the backdrop of PSR that Man City signing a left-back from Wolves can derail West Ham’s transfer plans.

But that is now the exact situation staring the Hammers in the face.

The only hope is that West Ham can somehow conclude a quick deal soon so they can start buying.

The most likely early sales look to be Mohammed Kudus and Nayef Aguerd.

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