At the time last summer when West Ham were betwixt and between, with David Moyes just out of the building and Julen Lopetegui finding his feet having only been appointed 18 days earlier, a decision was taken to sell a fan favourite which was greeted with widespread disappointment: I suspect Claret and Hugh were amongst those sad to see the midfielder – himself an avid Hammers fan – sold to Southampton.
Tim Steidten, who would presumably have green-lighted the sale of Flynn Downes to St Mary’s, is no more at West Ham having followed Lopetegui out of the door. But he still deserves great credit for managing to achieve the sale of Downes for what looks, in hindsight, a mammoth fee at £18 million.
Downes has disappointed and Southampton have been relegated: At the time last July Flynn D. Had been out on a season-long loan with the Saints and had helped them secure promotion so they were delighted to secure his services.
In the context of what followed – their awful 2024-5 season which saw them relegated with what looks like a record low points tally – eighteen million looks about ten million over the odds for which West Ham have cause to be grateful to their now – departed technical director.
Furious fans last summer were critical that Downes had left and West Ham had failed, as part of the done deal, to secure the signing of target Kyle Walker-Peters heading to London Stadium: However selling Downes for three million pounds more than West Ham subsequently paid for Aaron Wan-Bissaka was a Steidten masterstroke.
Can’t help but worry that West Ham’s transfer activity in the coming window is unlikely to be quite so canny.
Jog the big German on to any suiter who’ll take a crock. Then go ball out for the boy Delap
I think TS did pretty well for us on balance. Brought in several good players (and exceptional ones in the cases of Kudus, Wan Bissaka and Summerville). Too early to judge about Guilherme, but the way Bournemouth struggled with his pace and trickery was encouraging, and reminiscent of an electrifying run against Chelsea. A very confident player for his age. Fullkrug’s class is clear. The goals will surely come. COYI
LOL! Easy to blame Downes for Southamptons demise. But that ignores many important factors, such as not having a striker who could hit a barn door with a banjo probably being the most important. Downes played well until he fell out of favour.
In fact, his stats, like for like exceed most of our midfield. The only central midfielder that has better passing stats than him is JWP. Who, by contrast, has zero through balls to Downes SEVEN!
https://www.premierleague.com/stats/player-comparison
People that write him off simply haven’t watched him or perhaps dont understand football?
Downes fitted in with the philosophy of the then Saints manager, Russell Martin, as he liked to play 20 passes out from the back to see how many goals they could concede…..
Turned out, quite a lot !
Mind you, we’ve got a cheek having a pop at another club after some of the appalling transfer business West Ham have done over the years.
Totally agree with John A. I remember when we sold Diangana to WBA for such a great price yet there was uproar amongst some of our fans. He was a good lad but nothing special and has shown that since his move. I feel exactly same regarding Downes. Whilst it’s good to see local lads play for us, I felt he wasn’t that great yet others saw him as good as Scott Parker. No way in the world. 18 million great business
It was a mistake to sack Steidten. It was a mistake to appoint Lopetegui. Potter isn’t doing as well as Everton and Wolves new managers.
Who keeps making these poor decisions that holds WHUFC back?
Brady played the old pals act she is the one to blame Sullivan never wanted Potter fron the start
Tim Steidten’s purchases of Guilherme and Fullkrug may turn out to be not quite so canny!
Yes but £31 for JWP means it wasn’t just Southampton that had their pants pulled down
Not sure hameroo. I think Guilherme could be a good buy if he is given more chances. And I would have agreed with you regarding Fulkrug but the last few games he has looked decent, although his age and injury record are downsides.
I’m expecting a transfer sh1t show . Downes the sideways and backwards passer always slowed Westham attacks down and so credit to Steidten for making a very rare profit on a Championship level player .
Lol – he has more through balls, in a very poor Southampton side, that any of our midfielders bar Paqueta. Go check the stats? Have you even watched him? Yes, he retains possession but he’s also able to use it. Only JWP has better passing stats % than FD and by 0.1%.
Best money we ever got must have been Diangana, but it has to be said that it wasn’t bad money for Downes for sure.
Just as well as there’s enough we lose fortunes on… Cornet, Vlasic spring to mind.
Go for Delap from Ipswich
Whichever club Liam Delap joins will need to start him every week. There’s no point in him going to somewhere like Liverpool if they put him on the bench. Newcastle might be a good option – potential top four, European football next season and with Isak possibly on his way. I’d love to see Delap at West Ham, but a wealthier club will sign him I reckon.