da dobrowin： If it wasn’t for Claudio Ranieri’s Leicester miracle, Slaven Bilic would surely be a guaranteed to take the crown as manager of the season at the end of this campaign.
da 888casino： When the Croatian replaced Sam Allardyce last summer there was concern that he would jeopardise their Premier League fate. However, it couldn’t have gone much better in the final season at the Boleyn Ground.
Bilic was given financial backing by the owners and we can be sure to see them adopt same approach in this coming transfer window. Dimitri Payet, Manuel Lanzini and Aaron Cresswell need a little more quality around them to turn the Irons into genuine top four contenders and, with the move to the Olympic Stadium, it should be easier than before to attract some big names to east London.
Champions League football in 2016/17 looks a distinct possibility with both Manchester clubs stuttering in a Tottenham-esque manner. David Gold and David Sullivan are not afraid to splash cash and they clearly have faith in Bilic to take the Hammers to the next stage: European prominence.
Here are your FIVE stars that the Irons must go for if they want to repeat their success of this season…
Alexandre Lacazette
Lacazette was the flavour of the 2015 summer transfer window and he would be a magnificent coup for the Hammers.
Despite the excellent contributions from midfield, West Ham are short of a reliable goalscoring striker, as proven with Dimitri Payet being top scorer with just eight goals. The Lyon striker has previously hinted that he’s open to moving to England, and the Hammers are, reportedly at least, keen.
Although his form has dipped this season, Lacazette has still found the net 14 times in Ligue 1 and the Hammers would face considerable competition if they moved for him.
Andy Carroll’s injuries and direct approach make him a wasted space in the squad and a new centre forward is needed if Bilic wants his side to regularly challenge for European football.
Marko Arnautovic
Continuing to be coy about his potential new Stoke City contract, Arnautovic sounds as if he is open to a move this summer and might be tempted by the European football that West Ham will be able to offer.
Previously a troublesome squad member at Werder Bremen and Inter Milan, Arnautovic has found his best form under Mark Hughes and is beginning to fulfil his considerable potential.
Stoke’s top goal scorer this season is thriving in the freedom he is given to attack down the inside left channel and has carried the Potters’ own European qualification challenge.
Jorginho
Midfield is an area of strength for the Hammers, with Cheikhou Kouyate, Mark Noble and Pedro Obiang proving themselves as top quality options. However, the additional depth needed next season means they cannot overlook this area of the team.
Bilic will also need to consider packing the midfield with a 4-3-3 in some of the tougher European games and Jorginho is one of the players that they should look to sign.
The Napoli man can sit in front of the defence or push slightly further forward and his exceptional passing ability is reflected in his 90.8% pass accuracy in Serie A. His creativity from deep would also be of use when trying to spring counter attacks, having registered four league assists for the Italian side.
Serge Aurier
The disgraced Paris Saint-Germain full back is almost certain to move this summer after his foolish ‘rant’ against his manager and team-mates a few weeks ago.
The Ivorian is still only 23-years-old and had been impressing for the French champions. The signing of Sam Byram may put the Irons off of moving for another right sided defender, but Aurier is comfortable as cover at centre-back and would be a great option across the defence.
With the increased number of fixtures that come with European involvement, depth will be crucial for Bilic, and Aurier could be the man to add some extra steel to that defence.
Averaging over 3.5 interceptions and nearly four tackles per Ligue 1 game, Aurier is as adept defensively as he is dangerous on the overlap.
Carlos Vela
This ex-Arsenal youngster has been one of Real Sociedad’s star players for a number of years and has had to cope with the loss of Antoine Griezmann, as well as a brief period under the management of David Moyes.
The Mexican hasn’t been at his best in La Liga this year, with only four goals and four assists, but his tricky play would provide some more width to the West Ham attacking set-up. Payet has often been used out wide this season and the signing of Vela would allow the French magician to play centrally more often.
At the peak of his powers in 2013/14, Vela contributed to 27 league goals for Sociedad and would certainly add extra threat to Bilic’s squad.