West Ham manager Avram Grant hopes to add more players to his squad before the start of the season.
Grant has signed Thomas Hitzlsperger, Frederic Piquionne and Pablo Barrera since being appointed as Hammers boss on June 3. Co-owners David Gold and David Sullivan are keen to add more depth to the squad after the team only just managed to escape relegation under previous manager Gianfranco Zola last term.
"The squad is not complete yet, we told the players we want to make the squad as strong as we can," Grant told www.whufc.com. "Even if the club are limited with money, because we are in debt, we know what we are doing and we know we want to do."
Moves for defender Tal Ben Haim, who Grant used to manage at Portsmouth, and France international striker Loic Remy have failed to materialise so far while the club's audacious attempt to sign Joe Cole on a free transfer ended in failure when he opted to sign for Liverpool.
Grant held his first training session with the whole of the first-team squad at the club's training ground this morning, with Matthew Upson, Robert Green, Jonathan Spector and Valon Behrami all returning from World Cup duty.
The Israeli has been pleased with how the team have performed in pre-season but is still determined to add more players to the ranks before the club's season-opener against Aston Villa on August 14.
He added: "The owners are trying to give their best for the team so we will buy or loan a few more players. Even if I don't like loans so much - most players here will be players for the long term."
West Ham have reportedly made a £12million bid for highly-rated Remy, who is said to be on the radar of some of Europe's top clubs.
Nice chairman Gilbert Stellardo confirmed that West Ham have been in touch with the French club about a potential transfer, and that the 23-year-old is interested in a move to Upton Park.
"West Ham? Remy is definitely interested," he is quoted as saying on lequipe.fr. "Liverpool, Chelsea and Arsenal? I have heard about their interest but I have had no contact. The only clubs I have talked to are West Ham and Fenerbahce."
Source: PA
