West Ham hope to sign Slavia Prague full-back Vladimir Coufal following his medical on Thursday but have been rebuffed in bids for Bruges midfielder Hans Vanaken and Fiorentina defender Nikola Milenkovic.
Manager David Moyes is keen to strengthen his squad but with a limited budget is mindful of wasting money afforded to him.
Should they fail to find suitable options he is prepared to hold fire on major signings until January rather than make rash decisions.
Right-back Coufal is in London and likely to cost around £4million and his expected transfer was confirmed by Slavia Prague’s president Jaroslav Tvrdik on Wednesday.