Arsenal man Ainsley Maitland-Niles has emerged as a target for the Hammers.

As first reported by Ex WHU Employee, the Hammers are eyeing a potential deal to sign the versatile ace from the Gunners.

Maitland-Niles can play in a variety of positions and is adept at playing at right-back, left-back, on both sides of midfield, and in the centre of the pitch.

An England international with four caps, Maitland-Niles is wanted on loan as the Irons look to strengthen their squad ahead of the transfer deadline.

However, Ex reports that the Gunners would rather sell the 24-year-old, who has fallen way down the pecking order at the Emirates.

He has gone on loan to both West Brom and AS Roma in the last two seasons and it seems as though the north London club would rather receive a proper fee for him, as opposed to letting him go on a short-term deal once again.

Gianluca Scamacca is set to make his full West Ham debut against Viborg tonight.

The striker has yet to make his first start for the club and has instead been limited to substitute appearances against both Manchester City and Nottingham Forest.

The Irons lost both games without scoring a goal but Scamacca is now in line to play against Viborg as the Hammers look to qualify for the Europa Conference League group stage.

The Danish side visit the London Stadium on Thursday evening in a game that could provide something of a morale boost to the Irons after two consecutive defeats in the Premier League.

Manuel Lanzini is also in line to start against the minnows, while Scamacca’s fellow summer signings, Maxwel Cornet, Flynn Downes and Thilo Kehrer are all in the squad.

Kehrer was only announced as a new signing yesterday but has been registered in time to play if David Moyes wants to select him.

By Dave Langton

West Ham have not agreed personal terms with Hans Vanaken yet.

Several reports have claimed that the Hammers have reached an agreement with the Club Brugge midfielder ahead of a deal to sign the player.

While the Irons are in talks over a deal to sign Vanaken, and there is very real interest from David Moyes, sources have confirmed that an agreement with the midfielder is not quite there yet.

The first bid, worth in the region of £8.5m, was rejected by Brugge but talks have continued between the two clubs.

While there remains hope that the Hammers will be able to convince the 29-year-old to move to the Irons, they have yet to reach an agreement with either Brugge or the player.

Talks are carrying on, and Moyes has a desire to bring a new midfielder into the club, with the only signing in the area thus far being the youthful Flynn Downes.

French club Nice have made a bid for Blackburn Rovers striker Ben Brereton Diaz, according to The Sun.

The Chile international has been identified as a potential target by boss David Moyes, and he remains interested in doing a deal.

However, it appears that the French club have made the first move by tabling an offer worth £8.4m.

Blackburn are aware that they may lose Brereton Diaz this month and there are a clutch of clubs interested in signing the striker.

Along with the Hammers, fellow Premier League clubs Everton and Leeds are also interested in signing Brereton Diaz.

He has scored two goals in three games already this season and it seems as though there is going to be a bidding war in the final few weeks of the transfer window.

The Irons have signed Gianluca Scamacca from Sassuolo but are desperate for more depth at the top of the pitch.

The Europa Conference League isn’t as lucrative as the Europa League in which West Ham is thought to have earned £38m in prize and gate money last season.

An approximate €235 million (£199m), is distributed among participating teams. The amount is further divided into:

– 40% will be allocated to starting fees (€94 million/£79m)

– 40% will be allocated to performance-related fixed amounts (€94 million/£79m)

– 10% will be allocated to coefficient-based amounts (€23.5 million/ £20m)

– 10% will be allocated to variable amounts (market pool) (€23.5 million/ £20m)

If west Ham is eliminated from the play-off round they will receive €750,000 (£634,00)

Qualification to the group stage is worth €2.9m (£2.45m)

UEFA Europa Conference League prize money for group stage

A team winning a group stage fixture in the UEFA Europa Conference League is rewarded with €500,000, while a draw means contesting teams earn €166,000 each. At the end of the group stage schedule, each group winner pockets €650,000, in addition to the money earned from wins and draws, whereas the runner-ups are given €325,000.

Per match win in group stage: €500,000 (£423,000)

Per match drawn in group stage: €166,000 (£140,000)

Group stage winners: €650,000  (£549,000)

Group stage runners-up: €325,000 (£275,000)

UEFA Europa Conference League prize money for knockout phase

Teams progressing into the knockout phase of the UEFA Europa Conference League receive a significantly larger amount than in the group stage. Teams that qualify for the quarter-finals and the semi-finals pocket a base fee of €1 million and €2 million respectively.

Here’s the break up.

Qualification for round of 32: €300,000 (£253,000)

Qualification for round of 16: €600,000 (£507,000)

Qualification for quarter-final: €1 million (£850,000)

Qualification for semi-final: €2 million (£1.7m)

What is the UEFA Europa Conference League prize money for the winner and runners-up?

The winner of the UEFA Europa Conference League receives a cash prize of €5 million, while the runner-up will return home with €3 million.

Winner: €5 million (£4,23m)

Runner up: €3 million (£2.53m)

If a team has won all six games in the group stage and goes on to win the UEFA Europa Conference League, they stand to win a total amount of approximately €20 million (£16.89m)

The runner-up can receive a grand total of €17 million (£14,36m)  if they win all their matches barring the final. The figure also includes the TV market pool share, which is distributed among the teams in addition to the base fees.

TV market pool share for UEFA Europa Conference League

The total TV market pool share for the UEFA Europa Conference League is set at €23.5 million shared amongst the clubs. Below is the breakdown of the fees div at every stage.

Group Stage: €4.70 million  (£3.97m)

Knockout Round Playoffs: €1.76 million  (£1.49m)

Round of 16: €2.36 million  (£1.99m)

Quarter-finals: €1.53 million (£1.29m)

Semi-finals: €940,000 (£794,000)

UEFA Europa Conference League final: €470,500 (£397,000)

Overall TV Pool adjusted : €11.75 million (£9.92m)

The remaining share (€11.75m) will be split among the clubs representing national associations in the group stage on the basis of their performance in the previous season’s domestic competitions.

In addition to the Prize and TV money, West Ham gets to keep home gate money. This evening’s match is worth around £600,000 with a crowd of 30,000 expected

Later home games at full capacity could be worth up to £1.5m per game if sold out.

The Independent Football Ombudsman (IFO) Ombudsman has told West Ham to improve their ban appeal process to give supporters a fair and independent experience.

The office of the IFO has been established by the three English football authorities (The Football Association [FA], The Premier League and The English Football League [EFL]) with the agreement of the Government. The IFO has been designated as the final stage for the adjudication of complaints which have not been resolved within football’s complaints procedure.

A report published by the IFO claims that cooperation from West Ham United had been less than expeditious, with long delays in responding to the investigation enquiries.

A West Ham supporter complained that he had been unjustly banned by the Club after he had inadvertently been caught up in a disturbance at Leeds United following a last-minute winning goal. He further complained that his subsequent appeal against the ban had not been given due consideration.

West Ham told the IFO that they are in the process of reviewing their offences and sanctions policy and have committed to discussing this with the West Ham United Supporters’ Trust and the FSA ahead of publication on their channels before the start of the 2023/24 season. The review will include the appeals process, which is being conducted by an independent party this season.

In conclusion, the report says The IFO was not satisfied, on the balance of probabilities, that the complainant received a fair hearing of his appeal following the Club’s decision to ban him. The IFO has accordingly recommended that the Club arrange for the appeal to be re-heard independently.

The full report can be found at https://www.theifo.co.uk/adjudications/ifo_2204.pdf

American Catering firm Delaware North UK which runs the catering contract at the London Stadium have announced massive losses this week.

The catering company that also supplies Wembley, Arsenal, Derby and  Coventry announced losses of over £24m on a turnover of £19m when they published their 2021 accounts at companies house this week.

They also list net liabilities of nearly £38m and that they are bailed out by the international Delaware North group to stay solvent.

The prices charged by the catering firm at the London Stadium made headlines last week after it was revealed it is the most expensive stadium to buy drinks and food in the Premier League.

West Ham have a contract with London Legacy Development Corporation with has a comparable clubs clause to protect supporters on price and service but this now appears to have been breached.

LLDC also own the operating company London Stadium 185 formally owned by Vinci and it is this LS185  entity that has a 25-year catering contract with Delaware North.

The Hammers have threatened legal action against LLDC to enforce the comparable clubs’ cause if prices do not drop tomorrow night in bars run by Delaware North.

By Dave Langton

West Ham are cooling their interest in Chelsea’s Emerson Palmieri.

Sources at the club have confirmed that the Irons, at this stage, are wary of the Italy international’s personal terms, and the deal is threatening to fall apart.

The Hammers had tabled a £13m bid to sign the left-back from the Blues but it now appears that the deal is in jeopardy.

Sources have stressed that concerns over the deal remain “at this juncture”, but the move is not totally dead at this point.

The Hammers remain in dialogue with Chelsea over a deal but it may be that boss David Moyes looks to move on to other targets.

The Irons confirmed the signing of Thilo Kehrer from PSG on Tuesday and would like to sign a left-back before the end of the transfer window.

Aaron Cresswell, of course, has been forced to play as both a left-back and a centre-back but he has precious little backup in the squad.

Billy McKinlay took the questions ahead of West Ham’s clash with Viborg FF and insisted that striker Gianluca Scamacca is settling in well in east London.

The Hammers splashed £35.5m to bring the striker into the club from Sassuolo.

However, he has yet to start a game for the Irons, coming on as a substitute in the defeats to both Manchester City and Nottingham Forest.

The Irons are yet to score a goal in the Premier League, losing 2-0 to City and 1-0 to Forest, but McKinlay, who was deputising for David Moyes due to his suspension, insists the Irons are confident Scamacca will soon hit the goal trail.

He was prolific during his time in Italy, scoring 16 times for Sassuolo in 41 games, and he has also won seven caps for Italy.

Speaking ahead of the Viborg game, McKinlay refused to confirm whether Scamacca or fellow new signing Maxwel Cornet would start, but he insists that the forward has made a real impression.

Quoted by Football.London, he said: “I think he’s settled in very well. He looks like a good technician. He is a powerful boy, good finisher. We’ve lacked a little bit of that in the past year or so. I think Gianluaca can come in and compete with that.

“The Premier League is probably the most physical league in the world. We have seen enough since looking to bring him to the club and we have seen enough from him so far.

“He’s a bit short on match fitness. We can’t expect players to re-invent the wheel when he has only been here five minutes. He’s getting ready to sample the West Ham way pretty soon and we think physically, he is pushing towards that. Minutes will help of course.”

Thilo Kehrer could make his West Ham debut against Viborg FF in the Europa Conference League play-off on Thursday evening.

The Hammers confirmed the signing of the PSG ace on Wednesday, and he is in line to make his first appearance for the club against the Danish side.

The Irons, of course, need to win the tie to have any chance of reaching the group stages of the third-tier competition.

Kehrer has signed a four-year contract with the option to extend for another two years, and he has been registered in time to potentially make his bow against Viborg.

He has already trained with the first-team group at Rush Green and will be in contention to start, although boss David Moyes will not be on the sidelines, as he is suspended after lashing out at a ball boy during the Europa League semi-final last season.

Flynn Downes was missing from the training session due to a toe injury but his absence was precautionary and he could play tomorrow.