West Ham’s important summer has been kicked off early by important breakthroughs across the board, as the futures of Michail Antonio, Manuel Lanzini and boss Slaven Bilic have seemingly been secured.

Quick turnarounds in those aspects are crucial to West Ham’s summer ahead and it appears the Hammers will kick on from here, with The Daily Star stating three established Premier League players are on West Ham’s short-list.

Pablo Zabaleta is expected to sign from Manchester City in the next few weeks on a free transfer, handing the Hammers a huge boost in the wide areas of their defence, and it’s reported Bilic’s side also have their eyes on Chelsea’s Michy Batshuayi and City ace Kelechi Iheanacho.

The two young strikers have seen their positions as their respective sides come under threat this season by poor performances and the rise of rival players, whilst potential summer activity from Chelsea and City could push them further down the pecking order.

Both Batshuayi and Iheanacho will have their eyes on the World Cup next summer, where they’ll look to excel for Belgium and Nigeria respectively, but regular first-team football will be necessary if they are to secure a starting spot.

That’s more significant for Batshuayi, who faces a huge year following a disappointing debut campaign in the Premier League- although he ended strongly by finding form in front of goal, even netting the title-winning strike against West Brom.

The former Marseille man still faces a battle to secure his spot in Belgium’s World Cup squad next summer though as he faces competition from the likes of Romelu Lukaku, Christian Benteke, Dries Mertens and Eden Hazard- all of whom could be seen as central options for the Red Devils.

For Batshuayi to increase his chances of playing regularly for Roberto Martinez’ side, he needs to be playing regularly and West Ham can give him that chance- and the same can be said for Iheanacho, with the pair even potentially playing alongside each other.

In Manchester, Iheanacho’s rise has been blocked by the tremendous breakthrough of Brazilian ace Gabriel Jesus and the Nigerian starlet now faces a battle to assert himself in Pep Guardiola’s project and that may be difficult with the Citizens being linked to an array of top strikers.

Therefore, a loan deal for Iheanacho could show his worth and West Ham could benefit vastly from securing the pair- especially if they were to create a partnership, which would see them supported by Antonio out wide and Lanzini just behind the duo.

Zabaleta, Iheanacho and Batshuayi may not solve all of West Ham’s woes but they would certainly go a long way to making things better and the fact that the Hammers are targeting Premier League players this term shows they’ve learned their lesson from last year, where an array of signings from the continent failed to cut-it in English football.