20 January 2024 , 02:00
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David Moyes says West Ham must sell before they buy this month and winger Said Benrahma appears top of the potential departures list, with the Hammers boss confirming the club rejected a loan offer from Marseille earlier this week.
Moyes is refusing to be drawn on a potential move for Manchester City ’s Kalvin Phillips and they continue to be linked with Sunderland ’s Jack Clarke. But permanent departures must come first.
“We said right at the start that we wanted some outs before we had people coming in,” he said. “Our budget isn't huge in this window. There's lots of reasons why there's probably not a lot of signings going on.
“We probably need to sell to get some other players in. If that’s the case then we’re probably in a selling mood, rather than a loaning mood.”
Benrahma will serve the first part of a three-match ban against Sheffield United on Sunday following his petulant red card in the FA Cup defeat to Bristol City.
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Moyes has “no intention” of speaking with the Algerian about his dismissal, for a retaliation kick after being fouled, and insisted the suspension will have no say on whether he stays or goes.
But Moyes admitted that speculation around the future of several squad members could impact the mood in the dressing room. “It can but the noise could be nonsense getting spoken,” he added. “I see an awful lot of stuff which is incorrect, not all the stuff is right.
“Maybe they are getting told other things from other people but until I’m told categorically from the owners or the secretary that something's happening I have to believe that there's nothing there.”
Jarrod Bowen is nearing a return from the ankle injury sustained a fortnight ago, in the drawn meeting with Bristol City, but he remains a doubt for the trip to Bramall Lane, while Lucas Paqueta and Michail Antonio are some way off in their recoveries from knee and hamstring injuries, and Mo Kudus is representing Ghana at the Africa Cup of Nations.
Those absences have strengthened their desire to bring a new attacker, despite the sell-first vow, and placed a need on sparingly used fringe players to step up in the short-term.
“Maybe our thoughts were different two weeks ago to what they are now,” Moyes added. “It’s moving all the time with where we think we might need to add players.”