David Moyes insists West Ham will not waste money as he explains January transfer strategy

David Moyes has said he did not want to waste money in January after West Ham ended the window without any signings.

The Hammers went into January with cash to spend and wanting to add a striker and a centre-back, but Moyes was only prepared to bring in players who would improve their squad and they missed out on several targets during a frustrating month.

Moyes confirmed West Ham had three club-record bids rejected — thought to be for Leeds duo Kalvin Phillips and Raphinha, as well as Benfica forward Darwin Nunez. The lack of new arrivals leaves their squad looking light in key areas, short of cover for Michail Antonio, and fans are frustrated the club did not sign anyone to boost their top-four bid.

Moyes insisted he was aligned with the board over their transfer policy and is confident West Ham can finish the season strongly.

“It wasn’t for the want of trying, that’s for sure," Moyes said of the lack of signings.

"West Ham supporters can be reassured that we were really ambitious in what we were trying to do. We were really ambitious in trying to get good players and players who could help us and make a difference, but it just became pretty difficult in the end and we missed out on one or two late on.

"I didn’t necessarily want to be in the situation where we were bringing players in just because we kept getting it said: ‘You need to buy a striker’. We’ve also got Jarrod Bowen and it would be very difficult to get a better back-up to Micky Antonio than Jarrod.

“We probably made three record transfer bids from the club in this January window and let’s be fair, January is never really a great time.

"I also believe it’s probably been tougher because we’re looking at a much different level of player now and trying to