West Ham have held secretive and informal (whatever that means) talks in an effort to beat Tottenham Hotspur to a signing.
That’s the latest claim from football journalist Graham Bailey and Football Fancast, who seem adamant there is genuine interest in Ivan Toney. Their reports suggest that Spurs are further along in negotiations to bring the striker—who has something of a bad-boy reputation—back to London. However, there have apparently also been discussions with the Hammers.
As Claret & Hugh reported on Thursday, we were told by a trusted transfer source that there have indeed been conversations among the West Ham hierarchy about the former Brentford striker. Speaking earlier this week, our source said: “Of course there is interest, but he is earning nearly £250k per week net in Saudi.”
Toney is on big money in Saudi
West Ham Missed the Bargain, Now Face Premium Price
More importantly, Toney is scoring goals in the Saudi Pro League—which is no surprise, as the forward guarantees goals wherever he plays. For that reason, he’d have been an ideal signing for West Ham, who could have landed him for just £3m back when he was at Peterborough.
It’s understood that Toney is keen to return to the Premier League on loan in a bid to boost his chances of making Thomas Tuchel’s World Cup squad. It appears to be a classic “out of sight, out of mind” scenario as far as the England manager is concerned, and the striker wants to remind Tuchel he’s still a viable option.
That said, last week’s alleged arrest for reportedly assaulting a fan outside a nightclub won’t have helped his case—either with Tuchel or his current Saudi employers, Al-Ahli—despite scoring 42 goals in 62 appearances.
As for West Ham, if the reports are to be believed, we’re currently in talks with anyone capable of kicking a football. That said, in this particular case, there does appear to be genuine interest in Toney. As for what exactly informal talks mean—well, your guess is as good as mine.
Informal discussions could be another way to say
” what wages does he want?
Sound familar?
I believe in Santa more than us signing Toney 🎅😂
why be so doubtful, all we need is … a cunning plan 😛
Simply will not happen Gonzo..all this is is a link/story to make it sound like we are really busy and another excuse to drag the window to the end of the month because the Deals a difficult one……then we will sign some injury prone crock on the cheap..it is what sullivan does
Pointless speculating on it, which is primarily why I ignore pretty much any transfer ‘news’ in the two window silly seasons.
The reality is that as a club, we appear to follow unrealistic, unachievable transfer targets at the expense of concentrating efforts on those which may be viable.
We’ve known the score since the Potter debacle, so our list should be, but in reality probably isn’t, set in stone with groundwork prepared. This would enable targets to be brought in as soon as the window opens.
The current Billy Smarts circus masquerading as a board clearly won’t have masterminded this though, will they?
Fast foward to the end of the window when, if previous form is anything to go by, we’ll be thrashing around in a state of blind panic for just anyone to fill a shirt.
I truly hope I’m forced into eating my own words, but I haven’t laid the table in anticipation.
This is the most important transfer window we’ve faced, courtesy of circumstances, for some time. We c*ck it up at our peril.
Not sure if Toney is the answer, and I hope we are not going to pay a ridiculous wage £250k
We want to get a player in long term, one for the future