Picking through the bones of the fallout from Mohammed Kudus’ transfer from West Ham, there was a quote that really caught my attention.
“The manager [Graham Potter] doesn’t believe Kudus is better than Bowen on the right wing and doesn’t believe he can play through the middle in the Premier League.”
Those were the words from a top club source, and they were easy to miss amidst the chaos. Make no mistake—West Ham are fully aware of just how badly this deal has gone down with the fans, and the hierarchy are very much engaged in damage limitation mode.
That said, I do believe the quote is a fair reflection of what Graham Potter thinks of Kudus, and I’m fairly certain he signed off on the transfer. But as always, the devil is in the detail—and I can’t help but wonder whether signing a new creative midfielder is now top of Potter’s list.
We keep hearing that the Hammers are after two midfielders, but at least one of them must be capable of unlocking a defence. Soucek, Ward-Prowse and Alvarez all have their strengths, but threading through-balls and laying on assists is not one of them.
Presumably the left-sided attack will be covered by Summerville or Guilherme, and Lucas Paquetá can’t be factored into any long-term plans for obvious reasons.
With the club all but confirming yesterday evening that a number 10 is high on the transfer priority list it does pose the question as to where the Hammers creativity will come from next season. Then there is the widely accepted belief that West Ham desperately need an athlete to compete in the fast paced Premier League.
Therefore, it’s safe to assume that the two midfielders will be a playmaker and a box to box runner which leaves the question . . . what will West Ham do with Soucek, Ward Prowse, Alvarez, Rodriguez, Irving Potts & Orford?
Shouldn’t have got rid of Big Timmy Steidten! Guy knew what he was doing and had a plan, we just didn’t want to let him implement his full “5 year plan”
Personally I’d like to see Guilherme play through the middle, not force another left footed creative type to play on the left like we did with Judas
Potter clearly knows as much as Sully about football. NOTHING
Unfortunately, this may be a season of not hoping we can beat teams, but one of, let’s hope and pray 3 teams are worse than us…
Given that it was widely stated that we would sell Kudus and we actually ended up making a profit (unlike Vlasic, Scammaca, Benrahma, …) I am not too unhappy – but now we need to start buying – and it would be nice to get some players like Bowen and Soucek who actually spend some time as Hammers
I think that who else we sell will pretty much depend on who we get offers for especially in midfield
What most fans seem to agree on is that the board must bear the major responsibility for where we find ourselves
Rodriguez and Irving sold, Orford and possibly Potts loaned out. Hopefully not Soucek sold, but possibly him and/ or JWP if anyone would take him (unlikely, at least at a decent fee).
Alvarez is easily our best defensive midfielder. And with better, more mobile, technically gifted players around him we will see the best of him. Problem is, will we ever sign those players?
As for Soucek, Ward-Prowse, Rodriguez? Sell. Or use them only as squad players. Soucek should only be used now from the bench, up front, as an impact sub when we need something in the last 20 minutes of a game.
paqueta is the best, guido would be the second best, but potter needs to play them in their specialised roles rather than dictate how they should play as individuals. the answer potter needs to find is the right player to partner them, jashari would be a paqueta replacement and he is a very solid one, alvarez is an ok ball carrier but not really good enough and has too many other holes in his game, with the defensive heavy lifting done by guido he isn’t ahead of him
We are all waiting for Potters masterplan to take shape…He has had his 18 game honeymoon…He sold Kudus to our rivals …So far keeping Todibo and bringing in Cummings is about it.
The club employed Potter so they must think he has something…Im not sure…Dont go with he is better than Loppy…Im better than Loppy!….
Im just wondering if two years out the game has left him bereft of ideas…Lets face it Todibo was already a done deal…And Cummings was already in place months ago…So where are the Potter signings?…Where are the players that he wants ?….Be ready for lots of excuses as Sullivan starts to back his man …All the way to the championship.
The manager can only make signings if the owner makes funds available. And obviously up until now Sullivan has not done that.
Look at these reports of the Slavia Prague owner blaming us for the deal for Diouf not happening. That’s surely because we had no money. That isn’t down to the manager.
a top club source lol….do we want another Pacman or how about someone who actually wants to wear the shirt and not try and get out of the club first chance they get.