Monday 15 June 2015 19:39, UK
Former West Ham forward Dean Ashton believes his old club need to make half a dozen quality signings this summer if they are to compete in the top half of the Premier League next season.
New Hammers boss Slaven Bilic was confirmed as Sam Allardyce's successor last Tuesday and has since been linked with big money swoops for out-of-favour Chelsea forward Loic Remy and want-away Paris Saint-Germain midfielder Yohan Cabaye.
Bilic, 46, made it clear on his arrival at Upton Park last week that his ambition is to finish his debut managerial season in England in the top ten. But Ashton insists the former Croatia manager will need to improve his squad significantly to stand any chance of achieving that goal.
Former England international Ashton, who spent three years with the Hammers up until his retirement in 2009, says both Remy and Cabaye would be top class additions to Bilic's squad, if he decides to splash the cash on the former Newcastle United duo.
"Both Remy and Cabaye would be fantastic signings for West Ham. Remy is a top-class forward and has the pace to strike fear into any defence. That kind of pace is something that every Premier League side needs and it is something that West Ham did have at the start of last season with [Diafra] Sakho and [Enner] Valencia. Pace had been missing from their attack for a while until then," Ashton told Sky Sports.
"Cabaye is also a top-class player. The way he can control things in the middle of the park, when he is on his game, is on another level. That is another side of West Ham's game that they are desperately in need of - a creative midfielder, who can pick a pass and set the forwards on their way.
"Mark Noble is probably the most creative player for West Ham at the moment and he is more of holding midfielder. So it would be a massive coup to get a player like Cabaye, who can be that playmaker, distribute the defence splitting passes and bring that winning mentality to the club.
"Both of them have played at the highest level and West Ham will want players that are always striving to reach the top."
West Ham - who qualified for the Europa League via the Fair Play League last season - kick-off their new season on July 2 in the first qualifying round of European football's secondary competition.
And Ashton feels the added burden of European football means the East Londoners have no choice but to be extremely active in the summer transfer window.
"They probably need at least half a dozen signings and that has to be quality as well. The biggest thing West Ham struggled with last season was not having quality to come in when first-team players were out injured," the 31-year-old added.
"They are in the Europa League this season and that could turn out to be a real big problem for West Ham with the amount of matches they may to have play if they qualify for the group stage.
"The players that come in will need to be of a certain quality and able to really add something to the first-team, so there is some real strength in depth there."