Even though the Premier League winter window has closed, the opportunity for players to be poached by clubs in overseas leagues with their own deadline days – Turkey and Brazil to name but two – still exists. Even as the England window was closing last Monday, West Ham were linked with an exit for Vladimir Coufal with claims made that offers were submitted even whilst Coufal was playing against Chelsea!
The Czech’s renaissance under Graham Potter certainly seems to have caught the eye of onlooking clubs. An offer from Fulham was rejected on deadline day and, says Claret and Hugh associate editor Sean Whetsone on his twitter account, you can forget any thought of Coufal leaving this side of the summer – whether that be to Turkey or anywhere else for that matter.
In response to the rumour from @markajnews on twitter last night, claiming that, with the Turkish window still open :”Vladimír Coufal, is a target for Turkish Süper Lig side, Galatasaray.”
Sean Whetstone responded: ‘Absolute rubbish’
Even though the EPL window is closed, these stories keep surfacing presumably as there is nothing better for some sites to report. This report from Sean who keeps his ear to the ground and is considered to be close to some of West Ham’s upper echelons, seems pretty conclusive: Whilst Coufal’s contract is up in June, I believe like most Hammers’ contracts there is a contingency clause to enable an extension for another year: So if Coufal’s rebirth as a right-sided centre back under Graham Potter continues, it is likely that he’ll be around for a while yet.
I wonder if either of the U21 RB’s are ready to step up and get game time as subs? Will they ever be ready? If not, we need a solid backup to AWB. That’s not Coufal, IMO.
“Even though the EPL window is closed, these stories keep surfacing presumably as there is nothing better for some sites to report.”
Slightly amusing in an article reporting on the rumours… even if it is to rubbish them.
Mmm torn about this one Martin. Vlad bleeds West Ham and has been a brilliant player for us over the last 4 years since joining, but we all know his limitations and lack of pace which sees him get beaten too many times by wingers. I hope with Graham’s guidance we can see him become more effective as he is a real leader on the pitch and in the dressing room I would hate to see him leave but at 32 we do need to bring in better players and create opportunities for our young players.
His stats show he has crossed the ball 477 times but his cross accuracy is only 22% and he only has 19 assists with 0 goals in 173 appearances. His tackle success is 56% and he has won 587 duels but lost 509 which at PL level has to be a concern. He gave away possession for Jacob Ramsey to open the scoring in the 1-1 draw against Aston Villa but then had a decent performance against Chelsea. Fulham obviously rate him highly and us fans love him, but with the high intensity style preferred by Graham, does that merit another year on his contract or will we be looking to replace him in the Summer?
22% cross accuracy? At least he is not afraid to cross. Accuracy depends on how this parameter is measured. If we have players intent on getting on the end of crosses, then this particular statistic improves out of all recognition to become impressive.
Would prefer Vlad to keep up the crossing work rather than improve his stats by only making one cross per season and then only if he can be certain that it will go to the shooting foot of a waiting striker.
Live a little Vlad. We love work and ambition. Don’t wait for the others to catch up – lead by example and they will follow.
Just being picky Essex. Nice to read what you have to say as always.
COYI