The Hammers brought in nine players during the summer window, and two of those were midfielders. Therefore, the last area Tim Steidten should be looking at when silly season springs back into life is midfield, which should be well-stocked.
Unfortunately, the most damning thing about reading the speculation surrounding Enciso was that I believed it because, despite the recent transfer activity, we’re still short.
The young Paraguayan has played a limited role at Brighton this season and is rumoured to be available, although the £30m price tag could be prohibitive. But really, there is no way West Ham should be in the situation we currently are.
With James Ward-Prowse out on loan and Flynn Downes recently sold to Southampton, the pressure is on new signings Guido Rodriguez and Carlos Soler to impress.
As good as Rodriguez has been, he is slow and needs a partner next to him to do his running, whereas Soler has not really shown anything in glimpses to suggest that West Ham should fork out £25m for his services.
Tomas Soucek is as reliable as ever but not really creative or mobile enough to start games on a regular basis, and Lucas Paquetá’s footballing future isn’t looking too clever.
Therefore, there might actually be something in the emerging reports that we’re eyeing up yet another midfielder. Whether that turns out to be Julio Enciso is anyone’s guess. However, despite nine new signings and over £100m spent, the fact that Julen Lopetegui is struggling to build a midfield is a shocker.
