One good deal is enough!

Gudjohnsen, Toni, Pandev, Oddo, Chamakh, Diamantini, Samaras, Boselli, Baptista, Rinaudo, Valbuena, Nosworthy, Fernandez, Mancini, Fon-Williams, Dossevi, Balotelli, Valbuena, Basso, Mensah, Poulsen, Carroll, Bezziccheri, Obraniak, Brozek, Ferdinand, Moon, Taylor, Malecki, Lletget, Kana-Biyik, Caicedo, Lustig, Homei, Acquafresca, Richards, Fanni, Spurr, Beevers, Ledley, Arango, Orr, Bocchetti… these are among the players that have been linked with West Ham this transfer window.
None of them has signed so far – what does that indicate, that we are unable to attract decent players?

One of the things it certainly indicates is that some people make money on spreading rumors, we usually call these people sports writers or agents.
Behind some of these rumors there are at least fragments of truth. The agents may have contacted West Ham to offer their players services, or they have been on a list of potential targets in case this or that happens at the club. It would of course be malfeasance from the Clubs side if it wasn’t preparing for some reasonably probable events.
Then there are the links where we are likely to be in some kind of active bargaining situation.

In the press these rumors are handled more or less as if they were unrelated. It’s reported that one player is in negotiations with the club and after a day or two it’s said to be a done deal and then we’re told that something appeared that killed the deal. Then there is another rumor that goes through similar stages etc. etc.
Comments of the type “West Ham fail again” shows you how desperate the West Ham supporters have become. It also shows that there is little thought given to how these deals are set up.
I think the ones working these deals are a lot like jugglers, keeping all these deals going simultaneously. They need to set up deal proposals with several interested strikers while most likely needing to work with the courters of Collins (or Upson for all we know at the moment) as we more than likely need to fund the new striker with a sale. We need to take all these possible deals as to a close to final as possible while still keeping them all open if the others do or don’t work out. We don’t want to lose Collins if there is no suitable striker available, and we obviously don’t want the costs of 3 new strikers, especially if no one is around to pick up Collins.
Come to think of it, it’s a bit like juggling where all the ball are in the shape of a chicken race!
The players hopes of going to a(nother) major club must have withered before they settle for our bid and the other team must accept the thought that there are no more money to get out of this deal. But this will not happen until the time for alternative and more lucrative bids have run out – which in some cases will not happen until the dying days of the transfer window.
If you have money, this way of doing business is not as important, it may be more important that the team get their man than it’s at the optimal price. However, for a team with no funds, chasing players that may rather go to a “big 4 club”, it’s more or less necessary to get involved in this kind of deals.

Ergo: There are more than likely several deals brokered. The majority of these will “fall through” since they are mutually exclusive, meaning if one is finalized others are doomed. And hopefully one or two of these multi-dimentional, or at least multi-party puzzles are finalized this last week of agony! Let's have some faith in the people doing this.
(Inevitable comment: You are Duckers and I claim my 5 quid...)