The pursuit of players this summer has been hindered by clubs continually inflating prices and increasing demands as soon as a deal is being negotiated. Evidence of this can be seen in the Hammers’ interest in Jhon Duran, where the published price suddenly jumped from £35 million to £40 million the moment West Ham tabled a £35 million bid.
A similar situation has occurred with transfer bids for another key position, specifically the ongoing ‘saga’ of acquiring a new right-back. Last week, it seemed the choice was down to one of two players: Aaron Wan-Bissaka from Manchester United or Kyle Walker-Peters from Southampton. Both sellers were reportedly holding out for £20 million-plus for defenders in their final year of contract.
Our Technical Director appears to be using the ‘Ajax playbook’ once again, if reports are accurate. Last summer, he feigned interest in Ajax target Carlos Borges until West Ham hesitated, allowing Ajax to ‘steal’ him. Ajax proudly announced they had ‘snatched the player from a Premier League rival.’ This left the Dutch club desperate for cash and unable to resist West Ham’s double swoop for Kudus and Alvarez, whom Steidten had been tracking all summer.
It seems West Ham’s chief negotiator is at it again, trying to pry a right-back from a Premier League club by appearing to pursue one of their own targets.
Manchester United have been seeking to acquire Bayern Munich’s Noussair Mazraoui for a reunion with former boss Erik ten Hag. Very publicly, according to Dharmesh Sheth, West Ham began direct talks with Bayern Munich over Mazraoui. The Sky reporter tweeted:
“West Ham in talks with Bayern Munich over signing right-back Noussair Mazraoui. The Morocco international is into the final 2 years of his contract. Interest retained in Southampton’s Kyle Walker-Peters and Manchester United’s Aaron Wan-Bissaka.”
It worked.
Shortly after this became public knowledge, Sky Sports Germany reporter Florian Plettenberg confirmed on X: “Man Utd seriously considering replacing Wan-Bissaka with Mazraoui. Therefore, they have lowered their demand for AWB and now seek £10m!”
Steidten is playing the long game
While West Ham’s negotiations regarding the Downes/Southampton/KWP situation have faced criticism, it seems ‘Tim is doing his thing’ to create opportunities to acquire targets in deals that favour West Ham. The intricate tactics of Premier League negotiation are alive and well, and it’s refreshing to see West Ham as the savvy negotiators rather than the victims.
If our assumptions are correct, expect a new right-back to arrive in the next week or so. No pressure, Tim.
Now, how to persuade Aston Villa to see reason with Jhon Duran? That would seriously boost our optimism for the future. West Ham United fans have been growing frustrated with the lack of action this summer. With some of the inflated prices now coming down, expect more movement and fewer rumours. Gonzo’s earlier piece regarding Jota Silva is another sign that the sales market is finally becoming more realistic.
It’s OK trying to sign all these defenders and midfielders but one thing we desperately missing is a proven striker, can’t they see that !!
Obviously not.bud …3 season without a proper striker …you should have.2cat very least in prem …plus Antonio isn’t even one ..goals win matches
But our biggest problem last seaon, despite the over cautouus football, wasn’t a lack of goals scored, it was conceding too many
Sorry but I don’t agree…yet another day just drifts by with no action ..JUST MORE TALK
What ever happened to the day john lyell was manager and Ron greenwood found Alan Taylor.billy Jenkins and Keith Robson.is it really this hard to find players?
Don’t forget about Alan Devonshire, all were absolutely amazing value for the Hammers
You’re reading far too much into this. The people now running operations at ManU are not this stupid. Perhaps at Ajax but their ineptitude got them the sack.
People talk like Steidten is a genius and master tactician. If he was that outstanding he wouldn’t be at our club working under the xxxwith his player ‘presents’ and changing deals at the last minute undermining everyone.
Not sure there are any dark arts at play, the Borges thing may be a coincidence so far we have struggled to get any deals done this window, am fed up of hearing about Steidten I want to see results not speculation. Probably most of these stories are fiction anyway just to generate clicks. Having said that I clicked, given a choice I would take this guy over AWB or KWP both of whom for different reasons aren’t good enough.
Not sure why you think we need to see “reason” with the pricing for Duran. He’s our asset. If you don’t like the price, go and find another “9”. There are not that many around, certainly with PL experience. Arsenal, Spurs and Chelsea all need one, let alone many of the other clubs in the EPL, and hence they command a premium.
You should be careful. Arsenal Spurs and Chelsea all have more pull than us. By your own admission all need a fwd. They might come knocking for Olly. Be funny if we’ve got Duran and you lose him won’t it
I’ve done some stupid shit in my time… But I’ve never followed and commented on a rival teams fan page. What a helmet you are Barry’s Boots!
Good article Martin
You talk utter shite Watkins is valued between 40 to 50 million top whack and has bundles more experience dhuran can’t even get in your team except for the odd occasion, yes his a talent but that’s all he is and his valuation based on that score is 30 million top whack. But i guess I should let you get back to your fantasy world, 40 million for a player with little experience but xome potential. Ateast at West ham he would get more game time and will be better managed by a superior manager.
Thanks for this interesting piece Martin. TS sounds intelligent and highly competent: it’s the clubs/agents trying to extort crazy money that are practicing the real dark arts!
Transfer dealings are more complex in these times of PSR. Clubs need to wheel and deal in order to balance future books results in a pressure to sell.
Also players on short contracts are worth a lot less or even nothing in the next window.
The resultant pressure on prices asked is downward as the window progresses and there’s less time in which for clubs to sell.
Fans talk in terms of millions as if small amounts, they’re not, a few million off an asking price is a huge amount.
Unless Man U do a swap deal, swapping Wan-Bissaka for Mazraoui with Bayern Munich. Then we’d get neither of them.