West Ham lost interest in continuing negotiations for Anthony Modeste when they were told it would take £40 million to prise him away from Cologne.
The Hammers were stunned the German outfit rejected £22 million out of hand for a 29 year old and have since pulled out of talks.
Ideally, the club want three strikers this summer – although are more likely to sign two – and have up to £60 million to spend.
We were told: “The club has moved on from Modeste. They were quoted £40 million for a player who will be 30 during the course of the season and that wasn’t seen as value for money. In fact it was seen as crazy even with prices having gone through the roof.”
It’s hard to disagree with that given that 22 year old Michy Batshuayi moved to Chelsea for around £40 million last summer and that Alexandre Lacazette – three year his junior – is set to join Arsenal for around £42 million.
He isn’t worth it ……..and isn’t good enough
He is not much better than average, there is little demand for him other than from us, so move on, supposedly Hernandez has a release clause, if so trigger it then you will find out if he will speak to you or not, if he doesn’t want to which seems from a distance to be the case then again strike him from the list, I am sure there are hungry young players with potential that can bought, realistically we are not an attractive option for top players in this summer window and there is no point paying top dollar for average players, better to keep it for January when a range of top players will be available and will want to move anywhere they can showcase themselves for the final few months before the World Cup.
Far from Modest(e) and that’s just where we should be.
Personally I’d plumb for the Mexican ( Hernandez) because he is dynamic and full of runnng whereas Giroud most definitely isn’t . Our new Home Pitch is bigger and we need to fill the gaps with a team that will use the whole of it . A player like Giroud wouldn’t give us that capability . We already have a player ( far better than Giroud) to fill that holding and striking role in AC . Why we should be so obsessed with Giroud is a bit of a mystery to me . We have new medical and training staff . Reckon we should give them a chance to improve the condition and confidence in our players . Obviously we need some new blood in the forward line and for me chicarito would be the perfect fit . Plus one other ,,, who , is anyone’s guess.
Most definitely not a 40million Modeste who has no real pedigree to shout about .
I think that within the next three weeks we shall see some paperwork flying about .
Are we being harsh on the Sullivan & Gold act ?? , well no , not in my opInion , they have made huge promises . Time to deliver .
I admire your faith in Carroll i do kevin but i think it is misguided now.I certainly wouldnt say he is far better than Giroud.We all have differing opinions of course.
Now on to Modeste…it would be pure madness to even offer above £25 million as far as im concerned,even thats too much but the market dictates.Im sure there will be cries of just paying the f@ckin money but this would be ludicrous and such a bad bit of business.I hope we made a tentative enquiry and moved on sharpish,as seems to be the case.
Yes spend the money but spend it wisely,not only to appease a few suicidal lemmings…..
Thanks , James for your reply ( a decent one , which nowadays are far and few between )
Yes Mate , can’t deny my admiration for Carroll . Even coming off the bench on the back of injuries is still our percentage top scorer . Sorry to repeat myself but , if Carroll can have a reasonably injury free season he is one of the most dangerous players in the Premiership., if not the most dangerous .
I am still of the opinion that some younger players should have / should be , given a chance.
Like an Apprentice , if he is not given the chance to shine , he won’t , or he will at another company . Then of course , it’s too late .
I know it’s a comparison that seems a little , you could say , out of context but , the parallels are similar .
There are some youngsters who been loaned out never to wear the Claret & Blue again .
I don’t expect ever to see , for example ; Reece Oxford ever gracing the LS in a West Ham shirt . Shame to lose a Great young talent which West Ham seem intent on throwing away .
I think you are being fairly negative about Oxford Kevin, you may be right but he has taken a big step in moving to Germany where he will get game time and probably high quality coaching something missing from many English clubs including our own in my opinion, also with regards to Giroud whilst he may not be defensively as good as Carroll offensively he is a lot better and whilst slow and ponderous he is more mobile than Carroll and more likely to play more games, for me with our style of play he would be a good signing (even if I don’t think we will get him). I will be keen to see how Martinez does in pre-season it may be a season at least to soon for him but like you say you never know, I didn’t expect much of Cottee or Slater for that matter but they hit the ground running and there was no looking back, you could argue the same was true of Noble and many of our academy players of the past but they learned quickly and adapted unless you test them you will never know, for me there is too much of a safety first approach with these players, it is possible to prepare them for multiple eventualities and give them a chance to shine whilst not damaging them in the long term, Martinez and for that matter Samuelson or Oxford don’t appear like players that doubt their own ability even if in Samuelson’s case he hasn’t shown the ability to adapt his game so far.
I think it will do Oxford good to go abroad,play in a different league & no doubt grow up a fair bit living away from London.I dont know naff all about Modeste apart from a limp loan spell at Blackburn & i never watch the Beachtowelliga so dont ever see him in that.
To much for him def but we have 60mil for 3 strikers dosnt seen a lot to me considering the players we have let go and the money we have from TV. Rights and finishing 11th .. Why do we only want to spendv20mil on a striker CU’s that’s not a lot in this day and age
Well i would take Chicarito for 13mill.Its only his release clause that keeps his value that low imo.He is worth far more.The thing is we might have got all this dough from the tv rights but it aint all there just to spend on transfers is it.I aint no money expert nor do the finances bother me but its a bloody big business a football club with many bills to pay other than giving all the cash for transfers.If the money wasnt going elswhere then why aint WBA,Burnley,Stoke all weighing out close to 100 mill on players.I know we got a touch bill wise with the stadium but it still dont give us 120mill to spend on players.
In fact with the tv rights money is available logic then all clubs should be spending 100 mill this window 😀
Its crazy crazy money for players isnt it fellas.Mediocre players going for thirty and forty million.No wonder it is so difficult to buy in the market unless you have a near as damn it bottomless pit of cash.
Madness. It’s not my money and all I really care about is that we get the quality that we want but I’d not want us to part with £40M for someone like this. I dunno but that just feels wrong. Still Giroud and Chico for me followed by Nacho and Bats. Not Modeste and Not Gray.