Make no mistake even at 33 Alvaro Arbeloa is a top top signing.
He has made over 150 appearances for Real Madrid and 66 for Liverpool and he is now set to become the ideal mentor for Sam Byram.
He was so keen to join the Hammers that Jack Sullivan – in an interview last night – revealed he had paid his own air fare to fly into London and that his agent had taken a lower fee than usual to make the deal happen.
We would mark this down as a seven out of 10 signing and more had he been younger.
Here’s our view on the others who have joined us as potential first team players in the summer market place.
Those who have yet to appear cannot be given a current rating of course but the one given – in brackets – is on previous known form where possible.
Andre Ayew – should form a great axis with Payet 7
Manuel Lanzini – we know what he’s all about 8
Arthur Masuaku – done ok but lacks the Cresswell speed and edge 5
Edmilson Fernandes – no way we can rate at this stage
Simone Zaza – international status speaks for itself but something to prove (7)
Johnathon Calleri – lacking confidence but good movement 4
Gokhan Tore – Oh dear 2
Ashley Fletcher – Huge promise. Really excited 8
Havard Nortveit – Ok at what he does but how much is there in his game? 4
Sofiane Feghouli – Don’t know enough of him really but tentatively… 5
Perhaps it’s too soon to deliver a opinion on the matter imho… anyway, I like Feghouli (7) and Masuaku (7)… but the true hit is Valencia on loan to Everton (10)… lol 😉
Paco the blue nose will be over the moon with Valencia signing for his big club LMAO 🙂
I was winding up a blue nose mate of mine this morning.He is well p*ssed off about getting Biggins 🙂
Tell him not to worry Rads he always puts in 100% and has strengthened Everton to overtake us according to some 🙂
Oh yeah I forgot,it was ridiculous loaning him to them wasnt it.He could make all difference to them with his glut of goals & assists 😀 😀 😀
Well I wouodnt rate them till Xmas at the earliest tbh but I would give Masuaka a 7 so far.Yeah ok he doesn’t fly down the wing like Cressie but he seems to defend better which is a pretty big plus as a defender I would think lol 🙂
Masuaku has to be a 7 IMO. Very solid defensively and keeps the ball well. His delivery for Antonios goal was spot on. I think he has the potential to be a very good premiership left back. Slav will have an issue when Cress is fit!
Other than that, I’m just over the moon we managed to con Everton into taking Valencia.
Masuaku is better than a 5, so he doesn’t bomb up the wing like Cresswell but is solid & has a good touch. Tore needs time to settle so 2 is again unfair.
way too early to judge them. We have the making of a very strong team with quality back up.
dont give our new players much of a chance do you. seriously underrated. Talk about too quick to judge.
Good to see this got copy & pasted over to Wet Wipes for the football experts to dissect.Some many experts in one place!!
Not wrong tone , I thought I accidently went on wettys site ? Ffs , Hugh , what next chipped nappys ?
But Mr wimpey is a bit harsh 2 ? He deserves at least a 3 ? 😉
I much prefer Hugh giving his opinion, regardless if I agree or not, based on what he thinks (positive or negative) than to read the hackneyed corporate spiel Sean puts out even if it is all positive. Personally I think Sean’s plastic pro club pieces would be far more at home with the rest of the plastics over on WHTID than anything Hugh writes.
Reckon when Payet is back and keeping the ball we will see Masuaku bombing up the wing. We’ve looked a bit frail in the midfield hence why Mas has been doing more defensive work.
Could be a massive threat to Cresswells place in the squad if he combines well with Payet.
Wish we could’ve got Wilshere as a different option to an out of form Kouyate but am sure he and a few others will show a massive improvement after the international breakings.
It’s far too early to rate any of the new signings except Lanzini. How can you write off Tore after so few appearances?
I’ve been reading C&H for a while now, and whilst it’s better than most, my jury is still out about the validity of the content I see……such as this piece.
I’ve been coming here for a little while (not quite as long as Radai, Matte or Bubs) but can fully vouch for this site. I can honestly say that this is the site that I check all other sites’ stories against. They have real contacts in the club and get proper info quite often far in advance of anyone else. They are West Ham fans first and foremost.
That being said, they’ve got to eat too and a piece like this is an opinion piece designed to create debate. With that in mind, a little controversy can go a long way 🙂
All this is just my opinion, of course, but you’ll be lucky if you find another website even half as reliable as these guys. Trust me, I’ve looked!