Hammer Stewart Downing appears close to completing a return to Middlesbrough after West Ham gave him permission to speak to his hometown club in the town where he was born.
Reports this afternoon suggest
two clubs are said to have agreed a fee of around £5m. The 30-year-old will have a medical examination as early as Thursday before meeting with chairman Steve Gibson. Assuming he passes a medical it is claimed he will then join the Middlesbrough squad at their Marbella training camp.
Downing joined West Ham in 2013 and made 37 Premier League appearances for the Hammers last season. Downing is said to have agreed a five year deal worth as much as £70,000 per week together with a £1 million bonus if Middlesbrough achieve promotion to the Premier League.
West Ham will remove one of their highest earners off their payroll as the £50,000 week man leaves freeing £2.6m off the annual wage bill.
Downing’s exit is also likely to pave the way for a loan deal for Argentine midfielder Manuel Lanzini from UAE-based club Al Jazira.
Reports have suggested that Lanzini has agreed to join the Hammers on a season long loan deal. Lanzini was previously linked with West Ham in the past but the former River Plate star opted for a move to Al Jazira for a fee of around £5.25million.
now it’s really getting exciting.
Looks good business,
Just need to see how good the young lad is,I hope we have a water tight clause to sign him next year,
He could be our next Tevez,
Yes it gets the blood boiling
Imagine Lanzini on one side and Samuelsen on the other.
I will take 5m for downing,31 soon,will have little value in a seasons time & lets face it he is a bit of a tart,but good luck to him,he was good for a few months this season just gone 😉
The Davids probably got Steve Gibson drunk. Still at least we all got what he wanted.
Certainly if the 2 mentioned above can do a job between them this season that will be excellent business, a brighter future and frees up money for a decent striker.
He was brilliant at the beginning of last season and that got him what he deserves,
That money could be the difference in the next 2 weeks with incoming transfers,
Matte still missing Tyson,she must be a cracker
If Downing is off I wish him well and if Lanzini comes that’ll be an exciting addition.
As for Matte I’m worried that the Italian bunkers are deeper than the premium Spanish ones and the shallow DIY English ones,hope he’s back soon
Haha,Matte is already back,he commented on the Hippo post,you must have missed it.The figa hunter is definately out of his bunker 😉
ahah… Hi my friends… I was locked in my bunker with a Brazilian figa (not Nolaninho’s sister), she cleaned my stats cabinet for 4 days… I am sure you understand… but I assure you the whole time, all I could think about was the health of Carroll… loool 😀
Well Matte that’s one way of delaying the inevitable lol hope your “cabinet” is well polished now
Cheers Radai just seen it that’ll backwards going for me teach lol
Hopefully we can return to having some fun now
We will see,wont be holding my breath,lol.Im sure the next sniper will be just around the corner.Good job i am no longer rabid 😀
Sadly you’re probably right I think there’s a couple with really empty lives who lie in wait to give a divisive opinion whilst calling someone a name then get holier than thou when they get some back……it’s becoming boring and predictable
Lanzini is a bad signing in my opinion, I don’t like loaning youth players if there’s no intention of signing them. Seems like money down the drain for a season, don’t think it’s worth wasting the money when we still have other players we want to sign on permanent contracts. if downing is going then we should be looking at using that money to buy a better replacement ie mirallas
Lanzini is 22 so hardly a youth player but the deal isn’t done yet so we don’t know if there’ll be a buy clause,my reservation would be why he ended up in the emirates I know for money but it’s not very ambitious. Wouldn’t be 100% for Mirallas seems a bit of a troublemaker but it’s only Slav and the Daves who’ll decide so I’ll trust them either way
Lanzini could be exciting for **** sake.Anyone wishing to pay tribute & lick Stewies arse can now do it on wetpants.The love up is in full progress,barf 😉
Good luck to Downing but if replaced is no great loss in my book.He had about four or five good months in two seasons.We barely knew he was on the pitch all the season before last.Yep your right Spoons,the love in has begun,lol.Just imagine what it will be like when Nolegs leaves,lol 😉
One out,one in hopefully.Aint too fussed about Downing going so no need to go to wetpants to pay homage to him,lol,will thank him for playing for us but i wont have a sleepless night about him leaving.
Salesb Magia is a bad signing,
So you think Song and Jenkinson were bad signings last year ?
We would all like the club to spend £100 million but it’s not going to happen,that’s why I said it’s important to have a water tight clause to buy afterwards,but if this kid turns out to be great we will have trouble fending off the top boys,
That’s life if he is great I will enjoy this season if he is not we won’t be stuck with him like
Magia
Sorry Matte nice to see you back,
Bet the chin is sore all that chaffing from a Brazillian,
Ahahah… Hi bubs, nice to see you… That Brazilian danced the samba on my… Lol I tried to post her picture but it’s not possible… I don’t know why… 😉
Good money for Downing.5 large for him now or worth next to nothing in a year or two.Think his place in the team was under threat big time this coming season.Guess he knows that as well so good luck to him if he wants to drop into the championship.Clearly wants to go home now hippo has deserted him.No drama,time to replace him with a younger model 😉
Fair play to the guy,clearly wants to go back home.Good luck to him.Never one of my favourite players i admit,but he did play well at the start of last season before the ex manager shifted him to make room for his little boy.
Middlethbrough said they will take Nolan on a free if we give them £1 million if they get relegated
Best of luck to Stewart if he’s leaving West Ham. He’s a nice footballer at his best – and like West Ham’s performances last season (until Christmas) he was excellent. I’m not going to knock him for the second half of last season, because most of the team weren’t great whilst the team slipped down the league table and were disastrously knocked out of the FA Cup..
Hi guys,
In the local Dubai papers today it is reported that Al Jazira are signing Jefferson Farfan, which then fills their quota of 4 foreign players. Lanzini is not one of them and is being reported as being offered to other clubs (http://www.thenational.ae/sport/football/al-jazira-on-the-verge-of-deal-for-schalkes-peruvian-winger-jefferson-farfan).
Therefore, I would be very surprised if there wasn’t a buyout clause as a) the Daves like those sort of deals and b) it seems Al Jazira want him off their books.
I know I should know how he has played out here but don’t really follow the local footie! I saw a comment above that questioned why he would come to UAE football and potentially shows a lack of ambition but I don’t think you can underestimate the sway of the wages on offer, all tax free. Lot of these boys can come here for two years (villas and cars provided) and basically set their families up for life (Gyan said something very similar recently… but is off to China to earn even more!!).
Think this is a good deal though, much rather get Chicarito and Lanzini in for Downing who had a good season when played correctly last year but at 31 the offer of 5-6m is too good to turn down.
Thanks for that update jmacd,the talk over here is he signs today,all sounds good to me