Spare a thought for Valentín Castellanos, who is currently in England preparing to sign for West Ham United from Lazio.
The 27-year-old striker has reportedly completed the first part of his Hammers medical, with the transfer expected to be rubber-stamped tomorrow. However, West Ham’s loss to Wolverhampton Wanderers today may have thrown a significant spanner in the works, turning the deal into an increasingly risky proposition.
Not only is Castellanos very much Nuno Espírito Santo’s signing, but the West Ham manager’s future now appears to be hanging by a thread. Club sources are saying nothing this evening, but it would be astonishing if discussions were not already taking place behind the scenes regarding his position.
Castellanos is a Nuno pick
A Risky Deal at the Wrong Time
It is difficult to imagine anyone at board level having even remotely contemplated West Ham being so comprehensively thrashed and outclassed by Wolves today. Perhaps Nuno survives this one, perhaps he does not, but another defeat — particularly against Nottingham Forest — would surely prove terminal.
There is also now the very real possibility that the Hammers could be playing EFL Championship football next season. With that in mind, committing close to €30m on a journeyman forward who may be ill-suited to the EFL — if he would even be willing to play there at all — feels like a questionable gamble.
As things stand, the transfer will surely be put on hold until at least the manager’s future is clarified. That said, given the chaos currently engulfing the club, it would be unwise to bet confidently on any outcome.
I’d give Mark Noble a crack as an assistant at least
Agree with you Benny. Surely the board could fork out a few bob extra for Mark Noble’s increased responsibility! Not that our former captain, aka Mr West Ham, would need much to be persuaded as his heart bleeds claret and blue. To see Mark on the touchline as an assistant coach would surely be an inspiration.
Need two new centre backs not a non scoring striker in a relegation battle
I agree Harvey, we are not 15 points behind and doomed. Yes we were awful against Wolves in the first half but in rhe second half we showed some fight. Can’t blame Nuno for the team selection and the subs were correct. Potts & Magassa were truly awful. For all the Paqueta hater yelling for him to be dropped, you got your wish and we had no creativity without. I haven’t lost hope and wish our fans can understand Nuno’s frustration from getting a very ordinary squad.
We should pull the plug on this deal and put the wallet away until the summer. There’s absolutely no point continuing to throw money at this situation and signing a £10m player for close to £30m definately won’t help long term.
Let’s embrace the inevitable and allow Sullivan and Brady to finally take account for allowing this great club to succumb to relegation
If anyone hasn’t realised we are 4 points off safety and play Forest next week. The constant negativity and apathy coming from the fans is actually embarrassing. Sullivan needs to do whatever he can to get players in to win games. Only a fool would give up and plan for the championship when there are 18 games left.
I totally agree with you , the fans are short sighted , they were looking at 6 points but after that nobody is commenting , I mean what’s the point in getting 6 points and losing the next 5 games , or isn’t it better to have reinforcement and win the 5 games and gaining 15 points rather than losing them
Harvey you are right,18 games to get our act together,I actually thought we could start that today. Whilst us fans have the grit,loyalty and determination I’m beginning to wonder about the players. Not a lot of fight there today and totally disorganised in fact clueless. Put the board to one side for a moment,that’s another problem,why we are not better organised and why the lack of fight is the immediate question. The games are there if we choose to turn up for them.
Totally agree with that HF
I would like to know why Nuno has no backroom staff, coaches of his choosing. A trusted number two. To save money? A contract agreement where he gets them if we stay up? But most likely less compensation to pay if they sack him. No coach or manager can coach a team without his full backroom team. Baffles me.
He may look to Leeds now Gonzo Could you blame him
Why are you so desperate for him to fail ? You have literally been on his case from the moment he arrived