West Ham boss says end of August will be the most expensive time to do business, not the cheapest

West Ham boss Sam Allardyce has urged any team interested in signing Scott Parker to move quickly or face missing out on the star midfielder.

Parker played 75 minutes for the Hammers on Saturday in a 0-0 draw against Wycombe Wanderers, and Allardyce reiterated that the club were yet to receive an offer for the 30-year-old.

“There are no bids for Scott at the moment so we continue as if he is going to start the season in our team until such time as somebody bids the right money that would be acceptable to the club,” he said.

“It’s like that for every player at every club. There is speculation and that will continue right through to August 31 unfortunately.

“We need to deal with it, it is very difficult indeed, but there is not a lot we can do about it.”

Allardyce also warned London rivals Tottenham Hotspur, whose manager Harry Redknapp has quite a history of securing players on the last day of the transfer window, that the end of August would be the most expensive time to do business with the Hammers.

“It is a worry that Spurs might wait until the last minute, because it would be the wrong time to do it,” he said.

“If they want to come and do it then, I will be telling the chairmen it is the most expensive time and not the cheapest.

“So if Harry is listening, or anyone at Tottenham, watch out, don’t be waiting that long because you won’t be able to do it.”

However, despite all the constant speculation, Allardyce revealed that his preparations for the new season haven’t been hindered at all.

“It is like it at every club I’ve been at, it never changes,” he said.

“You just have to live from the first day of pre-season until August 31.

“You just have to do the business as quickly as you can and when you can.”

Allardyce also reveals that he plans to add some new faces to his Hammers squad, but that he doesn’t know how many new arrivals there will be before the end of the transfer window.

“I don’t really know how many more players there will be,” he said.

“If we keep the players we’ve got now and nobody left then perhaps about three, but if players start going then it escalates into one or two more.”

The 56-year-old said that in terms of priority positions, he is looking to bring in another striker and a left back.

“We’ve only got two experienced players in Carlton (Cole) and Freddie (Piquionne), so I think we need one at that end,” he said.

“We’ve only got one left back which is Herita (Ilunga) so I think that is an area we need to look at.

“After that I think we will be okay unless a certain player pops up that is going to be outstanding for us like a Matt Taylor.”

Taylor, whose signing was confirmed at the weekend, is someone that Allardyce is familiar with.

“I’ve known Matt for a long time and I’ve seen him in the Premier League and watched him develop from his early days,” said Allardyce.

“I think that (signing Taylor) shows our desire to try and get a group of players that want to get us back into the Premier League as quickly as possible and he is the second player we have persuaded to step down (to the Championship) and I think that is a great credit to everybody at West Ham.