"Astonishing" £18m-rated titan will be haunting Moyes, he'd be "perfect" for West Ham - opinion

West Ham United should not have targeted unrealistic signings in the January transfer window.

That’s according to a claim made by Alex Crook, with the journalist recently stating his belief on talkSPORT that, rather than pursuing deals for the likes of Leeds United duo Raphinha and Kalvin Phillips, as well as Benfica centre-forward Darwin Nunez, David Moyes and his West Ham transfer team should have been targeting more attainable additions – such as the now-Burnley striker Wout Weghorst.

Regarding the Hammers’ winter window, Crook said: “Wout Weghorst, £12m he cost Burnley from Wolfsburg and he was absolutely brilliant at Brighton. Surely that would have been an easier deal for West Ham? They were looking for alternatives to Antonio, there’s a player who they know wants to come to the Premier League.

“And before you ‘at’ me Burnley fans [on Twitter], I don’t disrespect Burnley, but if you have a choice between Burnley and West Ham, you would go to West Ham. I don’t understand why they didn’t try and get that deal done. They ended the window chasing unrealistic targets, like Kalvin Phillips and Raphinha at Leeds.

“They tried to get Darwin Nunez from Benfica – Brighton tried to sign him last summer and it proved impossible. They should have gone for Weghorst. He was a brilliant option and could have given them that lift like Jesse Lingard gave them last season.”

Considering just how impressive Weghorst has been for Burnley since his £12m move to Turf Moor last month, in addition to the fact that ExWHUemployee revealed late last year that the 29-year-old was a “definite target” for the Hammers in the January window, exactly why Moyes did not make a move for the Netherlands international is rather questionable.

Indeed, over