Up there with Kalvin Phillips’ failed loan spell at London stadium but without the red cards, Evan Ferguson’s loan at West Ham must go down as one of the most pointless pieces of loan – transfer business conducted by the club in recent memory. What was the point of it all? Ferguson arrived to a huge fanfare at the end of the window, to a striker-starved West Ham fan base he looked the real deal – young, ambitious and eager to recover fitness and form and fire in some goals to propel West Ham up the league.
Quite what it was that turned Potter ‘off’ the youngster we many never know: Maybe Ferguson smacked Potter’s Volvo in the club car park but he couldn’t catch the West Ham manager’s attention to get minutes on the pitch for love nor money, and left to return to Brighton with ‘zeroes’ in virtually every column.
Seasoned Hammers fans will know what is coming next.
Reported yesterday by givemesport.com it seems the young Irishman may be heading to Everton’s new ground to become David Moyes’ summer signing now that Brighton have their own Ferguson replacement lined up:
“Brighton and Hove Albion have made a huge move to sign Greek teenage sensation Charalampos Kostoulas, according to reports, with a £34million offer tabled for the prodigy – and that should open the door for Everton to sign Evan Ferguson to lead them into their new era at the Hill Dickinson Stadium.”
Nailed-on then, for the likeable Ferguson to be reborn under Moyes, score against West Ham and lead Everton into a European charge. The ‘failed at West Ham’ striker has a huge incentive to show Potter what he missed and prove himself worth £50 million once more.
Inevitable, isn’t it.
He’s so clearly talented, why we never gave him more of a shot is beyond me. Good luck to him and it will serve us right.
Yes the history isn’t good but we don’t see the player in training and he wasn’t up to much the few minutes he did play. I
It’s a difficult and embarrassing thing not to play an expensive loanee but if he was any good we were desperate for a striker and surely Potter would of played even a half level Ferguson.
He’s young and may find form somewhere but not getting picked for Brighton or West Ham suggests big problems for him. Certainly a big risk for a expensive transfer .
As much as I’d love to see him do a job for Moyes, let’s have it right…if Everton are to be led into a European charge, it won’t be Ferguson at the front. I know he didn’t exactly get many opportunities, but you absolutely must take the ones you are given and he simply did not do that. I’m looking to the chance he fluffed against Leicester as much as the one against Wolves, but it was the close-range miss that summarised his loan spell perfectly in my opinion, and I imagine Potter saw plenty of the same in training to leave him out.
Brighton once again proving that you don’t need to the 16th richest club in world football to be successful.
They consistently identify young players and make massive profits selling them on so not to be restricted by PSR.
They employ young coaches with innovative, modern, attack minded football that are aligned with the data led recruitment team.
Brighton have leadership, vision and a successful strategy which enables them to change their coach without negatively impacting the teams performance.
West Ham have Sullivan & Brady.
Exactly the Brighton and Brentford models are what West Ham should be doing. The fact that they do it season after season means surely it can be copied.
I think Ferguson has serious injury problems which is why he didn’t play for us and why I’m not bothered if he passes the Moyes MOT test and joins Everton.
The inevitable part of Ferguson joining Everton is we will end up signing Dominic Calvert-Lewin.
Forget all the young dynamic strikers that we have been linked with.
West Ham fans know what’s coming next.