West Ham have officially announced the signing of Portuguese defender Gonçalo Cardoso for €3m with €2m of add-ons depending on Premier League starts.
The Hammers beat off competition from a number of top European clubs to complete the transfer of the 18-year-old centre-back from Primeira Liga club Boavista on a five-year contract with an option to extend for a further year.
Cardoso, who started 15 league games last season and was part of the Portugal side which finished runners-up at the 2019 UEFA European U19 Championship finals in July, is looking to take his game to the next level at London Stadium.
“I am very excited and it’s a dream come true,” said the teenager, who will wear the No20 shirt.
“I always dreamt of coming to England and now I’m here at this big, historic club, so I’m very happy.
“I’m an aggressive player, a little bit different on the pitch than off it. I’m calm, and I like to have the ball and build the game from the back.
“I’m here to work and to help the team reach their goals.”
We are getting excited by signing an 18 year old defender and Spurs are getting excited about signing Coutinho, Wolves Kessie, Man Utd Maguire. We need to wake up and realise we are so far behind the top 6 teams it is incredible. We had a tremendous opportunity with 4/5 quality signings this summer to make a move in the right direction. The gap has grown in my opinion and this is the reality. The gap between ourselves and Wolves and Everton has also grown. Look at Everton in for Dacoure the type of player we need. There will be people on here who will give out about me being negative but I am not negative I am realistic. Haller is no Arnie, Fornals is a similar player to Lanzini. Unless the club produce a couple of quality signings in the next 48 hours be ready for a disappointing season, unfortunately I cannot see anything else.
People call you negative because you’re negative. While I agree with some of your points about needing a player like Dacoure, you say you’re not negative and in the next sentence slag off two very positive signings. ‘Haller isn’t Arnautovic’ well thank god for that, I want a committed player with the right attitude who will play a complete season. ‘Fornals is a similar player to Lanzini’, oh no, not the same as that other really good player he have, how terrible.
I think Everton have definitely shown the sort of ambition that will see them push on and I think we could and should show more ambition by signing one more player with unquestionable quality this window, but who knows. Nobody predicted Watford doing so well last season. Form, injuries, chemistry, luck, they are all going to play a massive role and perhaps everything will finally go our way.
To say you’re not negative but a realist would make more sense if you were only focusing on areas that haven’t had investment. But to dismiss our new signings before they’ve had a chance and to take aim at players like Wilshere without justification is negative and I think most would agree.
To be honest Johnham I think a lot of fans on here agree with you. In the perfect world we would add a world class CDM and a quality back up striker to Haller – however, we’re actually realists and realise we don’t have the money.
We’ve spent £70m on 2 players, both who if things go right will have huge sell on value in the future. Who knows, Cordoso might be a third. We’ve already made potentially £40m on Diop given all the stories in the press about his value. The reason Leicester have so much money is they have managed to flog Mahrez, Kante & Maguire for £170m + when they cost them only £20m. This is how we need to be looking to build our club. Everton & Wolves both have new super rich owners, worth £2B and £8B a piece. They’re likely to splash the cash for the next few transfer windows and then go into their shells (maybe not Wolves as they have a ridiculous amount of money available).
As always as a West Ham fan, there are things to be concerned about going into the new season … but for once there’s actually a lot to be optimistic about.Get behind the boys and stop writing us off before the season has even kicked off. COYI
100% Dom. He drives me crazy. Must be the life and soul at a party eh?