By CandH’s top blogger Allen Cummings
So the curtain finally fell on the EFL transfer window at 5pm on Friday – with drama, West Ham style, right up to the very end. Mercifully there was no time for a ‘curtain call’ when the clocked finally ticked round to the witching hour.
Just as well – I’m not sure many of us could have suffered that. In the end Said Benrahma was actually ‘our’ man, joining Craig Dawson and Vladimir Coufal and Tomas Soucek for whom a loan was made permanent.
There’s no denying we haven’t exactly spent a fortune – far from it, as some will be quick to point out. Nothing like some other teams. We certainly haven’t repeated what now looks to have been the reckless excesses of previous manager Manuel Pellegrini, spending heavily on foreign imports who, in the main, are yet to live up to their billing.
But one redeeming feature of the whole transfer soap opera that shouldn’t be forgotten is that we continue to enjoy the services of possibly the biggest prize of all for us – Declan Rice.
Chelsea were the window’s biggest spenders with deals topping £200m. But if what we were constantly led to believe is true, the prize Frank Lampard really wanted, and there were plenty eager to inform us it was ‘nailed on’, actually eluded him.
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ewspaper columns and social media sites were awash with stories that Rice was Stamford Bridge-bound. It was a certainty! Only it wasn’t! It didn’t happen! Declan Rice, with a transfer valuation of around £80m, is still a Hammer and retaining him in our ranks when so many were convinced we were destined to life without him, is a massive boost for West Ham.
I won’t suggest it’s like having a new ‘marquee’ singing in itself, because that would give our habitual moaners ammunition to seize upon. But life with Declan at the heart of the team looks a whole lot rosier than life without him.
As ‘stand in’ skipper Rice has already led us to impressive victories over Wolverhampton Wanderers and Leicester City, another three points on Sunday in the game against Tottenham Hotspur would be the icing on the cake.
Mark Noble will continue to be club captain, and rightly so, but Declan is now, without doubt, the team captain we need to take us forward. His inspirational play, growing maturity and ability to lead by example underline how he’s made for the job.
Maybe there’s a case for David Moyes to come out and say that’s how it’s going to be. Sunday’s visit to the spuds will be our first game since the transfer window closed. What better time and place for us to celebrate DR still being a Hammer than with victory over our noisy north London neighbours.
With two victories and a draw from our last four visits to White Hart Lane, that place should hold no fears for us now. We were the first side to score against spurs at their bright new home – and Michail Antonio’s goal that day was enough to register us took us as the first side to beat them on their own patch. Not part of their history they will enjoy.
Sadly this time our travelling away fans won’t be heard breaking into a chorus of “it’s happening again…” – not collectively anyway. But should it happen again, the feeling amongst West Ham supporters watching on TV will be just a satisfying. There is nothing more satisfying than beating the spuds – and if it does happen it will be another memorable moment in Declan Rice’s blossoming career.
