West Ham United were planning to sign an "outrageous" player, before he ended up signing for Aston Villa in a deadline-busting move.

West Ham miss out on "outrageous" star to Aston Villa

Ultimately, West Ham did what they needed to do on deadline day, bringing in Igor Julio on loan from Brighton & Hove Albion to provide cover in defence, but there are question marks over whether it was a successful window on the whole.

Former player Dean Ashton has been left unconvinced by the recruitment team's summer transfer strategy, saying: "The recruitment's been so shoddy, especially when you change managers and style of football.

"You have to be so aligned at board level to make sure that recruitment is absolutely spot-on for the manager that you've got in place."

Things picked up in the latter stages of the window, bringing in 21-year-old midfielder Soungouto Magassa from AS Monaco, while Mateus Fernandes also arrived from Southampton.

However, there are arguably some doubts over the signing of Fernandes, given that the attacking midfielder is yet to really prove himself at Premier League level, having been part of the Southampton side that picked up just 12 points last season.

Instead, West Ham may have been better off signing a more established Premier League midfielder, and that is exactly what they tried to do, having planned to push for the signing of Liverpool's Harvey Elliott in August.

However, Elliott ultimately ended up completing a deadline-busting move to Aston Villa, with the 22-year-old joining on a loan deal for the remainder of the season, which includes an obligation to buy for £35m.

Elliott could have been "outrageous" signing for West Ham

It is perhaps unsurprising the Hammers missed out on the England U21 international, given that the option to join a club competing in the Europa League was on the table, but it is still disappointing they were unable to get a deal done.

The former Fulham man has been lauded as "outrageous" by scout Jacek Kulig in the past, and he is much more established than Fernandes at the top level, most notably scoring a late winner against Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League last season.

That's not to say Fernandes isn't a strong addition to Potter's squad, however, with the Portuguese youngster impressing after being thrown straight in on the left-wing against Nottingham Forest last time out.

The starlet won six duels, the joint-second highest number of any West Ham player on the pitch, while he has also received high praise for his attitude from former Saints man Jo Tessem in the past, who said: "Every week he plays his heart out, he is by far the best player on the football pitch from a Saints perspective."