There is a consensus amongst most Hammers fans that this transfer window is ‘the best since Pellegrini’ – or ‘the best ever’. Whatever your opinion on the quality of the players coming in, it seems hints are being dropped that West Ham United haven’t finished yet this window.
From the top quality pedigree of our new signings such as Todibo, Wan Bissaka, and Summerville, I’m now of the opinion that a whole tier of squad players will be deemed as ‘no longer required’, meaning more incomings can be expected as the squad upgrade continues.
Lopetegui has shown his intent is to drive up standards and player quality, the statement signings making the club’s backing for his plan 100% crystal clear and I think the board need to be congratulated for backing him.
Gleaning opinions from the various club sources, ‘in the know’ journalists such as exWHU employee. it would look as if several players I’d considered ‘safe’ – may well head out of the club if offers are forthcoming.
The perennial ‘bench sitters’ – Cornet and Ings -will probably be be the first names on the whiteboard for ‘exit bound’ subject to the problem of high salaries being addressed in Ings’ case.
Rumours are that at least one extra midfielder and another defender will be on the shopping list this window as The Hammers seek an upgrade on the Soucek/Ward Prowse option on display yesterday. The obvious choice would be someone such as Carlos Soler currently at PSG who we know Lopetegui rates highly from his time as Spain’s national team head coach.
Many sources – such as yahoo sports and L’equipe have mentioned him as being available owing to the Parisians upgrading their own midfield squad leaving him surplus to requirements: He made just 12 appearances for the French club last season.
Soler would be a considerable improvement on Tornado Tom Soucek who we love dearly but may be sold (Turkish clubs having been linked with him of late) as part of the relentless Lopetegui drive to increase standards of possessional football.
Tantalisingly there are still possibilities that a late move might transpire for another striker late in the window: Don’t rule it out just yet as, incredibly, there does seem money available.
“Best since Pellegrini” should be a warning not to count our chickens before they hatch. Can’t judge a window until after the season. Hopefully this is a great window, but we’ll see.
Exactly so. The window at that time was pretty electric with so many new players and huge spend feeling like a ‘new era’. 20/20 hindsight makes everything easy.
Martin, I’m just concerned with how a couple of days ago u were posting with your Dad’s Army headline and criticising the transfer policy (which I’m sure you or anyone else who isn’t J-Lo or Tim aren’t actually aware of what it really entails) only to be saying best ever two days later….maybe you guys can temper your criticism with a little patience in the future. We all want the same thing here, which is West Ham playing attractive football while also getting decent results as well. Premature criticism and then having to roll back comments when proved wrong helps no one. I’m looking forward to seeing who else we are linked (not that just being linked means it’s genuine interest) with and maybe comes through the door. COYI!
I would agree with you, the Dad’s army piece was written with a certain amount of tongue in cheek, though: When Kieran Tripper was being linked with The Irons I think I was not alone in my concerns. Many had actually started labelling our attack ‘Dad’s Army’ so the label didn’t come from me. I suspect there was some brilliant misinformation being sown by those clever people at the club to get the Todibo project sorted without alerting Juve. Job well done.and, importantly,
” I was wrong’. Hope that helps. MT
Martin, major respect to you. Your articles are normally intruiging with some great knowledge and a little sarcasm thrown in for good measure. Always a decent read, but an apology too and admitting you were wrong! Bloody hell, steady on chap lol 😉 Maybe you can pass on some of your attributes and magical fairy dust to some of the others at C&H. You and Gonzo are the only 2 worth listening to 😉
Duran & Soler in Ings & Soucek out then you have the perfect transfer window
Pelligrini was a terrible transfer window. Happy with what we have done once we add AWB. If we managed to get Duran somehow, that would be more than enough for me. If we don’t, I’m happy with what we have done.
Same here……..Pellegrini ???
The man who signed the Great Roberto lol
Yeah must admit I thought that! Although in fairness I didn’t think our first season with Pelligrini was that bad after a very bad start. It may take some time for all these new guys to gel.
It’s looking like we are gearing up for a great season with all the new additions and the quality that are already at the club it’s a case of can’t wait for the season to start COYI
I for one, would be sad to see Soucek go. I am aware of his limitations as a midfielder but he seems like such a likeable guy that I always want him to do well. Maybe he has a role as a squad player and if he’s not playing every minute of every game maybe he’ll return to the form he had a few seasons back.
i think the last friendly demonstrated that soucek has a lot more to offer than JWP
now JWP is probably the better progressive passer but that ability might as well not exist if he’s too much of a coward to attempt it
i have seen nothing from JWP in open play since that flick on assist during a counter early in his west ham career
unlike JWP, soucek has courage, and he is a player that greatly benefits playing beside guido who will instruct him both in and out of possession – you could instantly see and improvement in his defensive discipline and general passing as guido tells him what to do
the more we delay JWPs exit the more costly it’s going to be, maybe we can sell him for 20m this window, next year maybe that drops to 10m
As a Hammer of 53 years, I am delighted at the calibre of player we are now attracting. However logic tells me that a comment of caution is warranted. I am sure Chelsea fans had the same euphoria last season, and look what happened there. I think talk of Champions league places is too early. I think the squad will finally gel around November and I will be pleased with a 7th place finish.
I think the issue with Chelsea was they went too hard in the direction of youth. There wasn’t really much of a blend of experience, though Sterling does come to mind. I’m being cautiously optimistic, but our signings really are doing their best to inspire for the season ahead.
The difference now is that we have Tim and he is probably the best transfer we ever had! Under Pellegrini we panic bought with no real long term plan. The same under Moyes, total short termism and that’s why we ended up where we are today, with an unbalanced ageing squad. J-Lo will need time, I don’t expect a strong start, but it will work out at the end. We need to get behind the man! ⚒️
I see this window as the first step towards building a new team. Some of these players will not still be here 2 years from now, but others will take their place and hopefully will be a further upgrade. I blame Moyes for our second half season performance last year, but even with that team they could have finished 3 places higher. Things look promising again now and it is all down to JL from here on. He has been given what he asked for and he needs to show us what he can do. Looking forward to Saturday and hopefully an improvement on last seasons 1-1 draw.
Be an absolutely epic transfer window if we bad Wan-Bissaka, then Soler and finish up with the young Spanish striker we wanted originally off Athetico Madrid via a season loan from Chelsea!
A squad set at least to improve on 11th in the league, 4th worst for possession and 4th worst for goals conceded…How’s that for ‘expectation management’? Only 4 places higher and we would have been (despite the low block dross) in Europe again. I think we have a real chance now of 6th/7th.
More to come , great
Injury prone Tammy Abraham, noooooo
More of a vision is being applied in this window. Hopefully this will continue in the transfer windows ahead. Expect it to be work in progress as the style of play changes but Lopetegui strikes me as a coach who won’t rest on his laurels- so optimistic he will make his mark over the course of the season.
I just heard that McDonald’s are doing a one off special they are giving away 100 season tickets for Aston villa if you pull the right ticket off your McDonald’s drink you get a choice of the season ticket or free fries, so far 99 tickets have been won and every winner opted for the fries so theirs one chance left for villa to increase their season ticket holders.
What Soler offers that we don’t have a lot of is late runs in to the box, Soucek is probably our best in the regard though Soler has scored goals everywhere he has been 1 in 6 games so he could be a great option to add variety to our attacking options a big departure from Moyes who would sub like for like.
I just hope fans are patient, Can’t expect miracles straight away, it’s exciting but we got these players and well done to the recruitment team, make no mistake if city arsenal Liverpool wanted them they would of got them, hopefully a good season ahead