January 2017 Transfer Speculation

ASLEFshrugged

Inter Milan are expected to put up a resistance given that Perisic is one of their better players, and it’s unclear whether the Croatian would be interested in leaving Serie A to link up with Bilic again in the Premier League

Trans. Inter are currently 5th and 4pts from Champions League spot, he's got a better chance of European football where he is

Sigurdsson. Proven ability in the Premier League

Yeoldhammer

they wanted 40m for Perisic last I heard and no way he would come to a club not In Europe. Being a premier league club is not going to swing it.

alderz

Florin ;ok

I don't know why but I like having Lanzini on the left.

OldCastleSwift

Sig for me too ASLEF, but again, out of our price range I reckon.

FlorinRaduclious

We've fallen out.

brookingsirons

perisic is a class act but even if we are interested I think its one for the summer
I cannot see inter being interested in this window. ;ok

FlorinRaduclious

Alderz ;lol

Aslef /OCS Sig is also a great shout, again have to wait until summer mind. My only slight against him is that really we need a winger and I feel he's best as a number 10. Also the same issue that he is not excessively quick if that is what we are aiming for. A class player though ;ok

On that note, any other wingers (possibly) being relegated and we could poach?
Traore of mids?

IronHerb

Traore?

OldCastleSwift

He looked very good against us but Chelsea were rumoured to be sniffing around him. Definitely worth a look in the summer though, irrespective of whether they get relegated ;ok

baracks_a_hammer

If perisic joins and ends up being several cuts above what we already have, then do we not run the risk of ending up in a Payet type position later down the line? Not saying every player will just down tools, but when you think about it, having one of Europe's top players at West Ham meant we had to pander to his every whim, which probably cheesed off the rest of the squad and disrupted team harmony

;hmm

OldCastleSwift

Good point Baracks. It's a fine line. We want world-class players but we're not a world-class team. As good as Payet was last season, his lack of graft this time round has kind of has made me suspicious of the motives of the so-called big names ;hmm

When you look at our better performers over the last couple of seasons (excluding Payet) it's been Cresswell, Antonio, Randolph, Lanzini and (this season) Obiang. Relatively unheard of players who seem to have a greater deal of humility about them.

Vorselaarhammer

So we sign him for 10m and sell him for 30m having had one outstanding season from him.

It beats signing Kovac.... ;biggrin

SuzanneClaret

;nonono

MrsGrey

I've only seen Traore play a couple of times.

He is lightning quick.

But based on the few games I've seen him in, he doesn't have good decision-making.

alderz

Traore beats his man pretty much every time, but doesn't have a clue what to do with it when he gets past him.

83 successful take ons (74% success) in 15 games (5.5 successful per game).
8 chances created.
0 assists.
0 goals.

No end product ;ok

http://www.squawka.com/players/adama-traore/

TwistandShout

Massively underwhelmed with Snodgrass

I just don't see him as an improvement ;puzzled

WHU_Champo_league_in_7_years

Sigurdsson is the one we need, he may just be below world class level but he's a fantastic player and most importantly...he's at an inferior club

West ham brand isn't very big overseas hence why te Baccas, Lacazettes of the world rejected us in the summer and untill we at least have a Europa league run (a good run) we arnet very attractive to overseas players

But players from lower clubs can see how we've been progressing (with plyers like Fonte seeing us as a better project than Southampton who sell all their players)

I like the idea of Chamberlain he's still only 23 and if he gets a run in the side I'm sure he could easily be a huge asset. Yes he will be expensive but the is a premium atm for buying players and if you don't agree you'll be left behind

Hogan and Fonte in this window will be a success imo as this season there isn't really anything to play for so will attack the summer with greater intent and hopefully we can make some smart buys

SuzanneClaret

Sigurdsson is very loyal to Swansea, it will be hard to get him I think.

MrsGrey

I don't think we should buy for the sake of buying. Only get someone in if we really really need them (which I don't think we do). Otherwise save the money until the summer when the market is a bit easier.

secrethammersfan

MrsGrey, I was just wondering how many clubs are buying now for the sake of buying. At the risk of being ridiculed, a few of the teams making moves (including us) are not changing their overall potential as a result, not accounting for injuries. There is no sign (excuse the pun) of a transfer which will have an effect on the table standings come the end of May. Still, ours is not to reason why...

TheMadcapLaughs

Sorry to disagree Mrs G, but I think we definitely need a right back, if Byram gets injured we are reliant on Nordveit or Antonio. Neither are good enough at right back and would cost us points. Either that or we go three at the back, which again has been less than successful. I know you can`t allow for every eventuality, but not having a right back for half of the season has definitely cost us. Ideally we would also buy a striker, I hope and pray Carroll stays fit, but with Martinez out on loan, Ayew going down with tsetse/ebola/malaria and Sakho with a dodgy back it does leave us with the unproven Fletcher as the only viable back up. I agree major purchases/strengthening should be done this summer, but I think it would be a risk leaving those positions not covered. ;scarf

eskimoking

I would prefer Sig or Perisic to Snodgrass, but I think a few are under-rating him slightly. I've always liked him. Gets assists, goals, good at set pieces and will work himself into the ground.

My main argument for someone like him, ok, so the argument so far is he's not fast enough, well if we play 4-2-3-1 and 2 of the 3 behind the striker are fast, it's not as essential that the 3rd is also pacey.

A big difference though would be someone who can, consistently and frequently, provide a good shape to crosses from open play for Carroll to attack. Snodgrass can do that better than anyone we currently have (bar Cresswell, but this season not so much). Antonio, Ayew, Tore, Feg are all wingers who tend to get to byline and cross low, or hit the first man if we're being brutally honest.

So I think he'd would improve our starting XI or at least the bench.

How many times have we been frustrated that quality crosses haven't been coming into AC?

MrsGrey

MadCap

Re striker - I don't think the situation as as dire as you make it out? It hasn't been confirmed that Ayew has malaria, and he played in the following match after the stories of 'suspected malaria' were around. Antonio can cover at CF too. We have to assume Sakho will be back from injury in time to get minutes in March and be more or less fully match fit for the run-in. So instead of AC and Fletcher we have AC, Ayew, Sakho, Fletcher and MA. (I know we can't know players will return from injury on schedule, or won't get other injuries - but we can't know lots of things, and we can't, as you say, buy in spare players for every eventuality).

At RB, I know the situation is a bit more pressing there. But we have 2 'qualified' players and 2 who can cover. I think that's appropriate in a squad. If we buy a RB who is better than any we have (assuming we could get one), that's great - Arbeloa's off in the summer. But then we'd be in exactly the same situation as we are now (2 players, limited cover). If we get one who's not as good as what we have, when Arbeloa goes in the summer we end up in exactly the same situation and with a not-very-good RB on the books. So we'd potentially be looking at making him 3rd choice cover and getting in another RB. Which we haven't really got room for in the squad.

(My only caveat to that is if the club know Arbeloa is unlikely to recover from whatever problem he has so that we are in effect with only 1proper RB. ;ok )

baracks_a_hammer

Re snodgrass, it's not about how good a player is per se, but how effective they are in the Prem - I would imagine this is why Slav is going for him

TheMadcapLaughs

Mrs G. If we didn`t buy a centre forward I wouldn`t be too disappointed, but the thought of Nordveit (Arbeloa I have discounted) lining up at right back gives me the ebeejeebies, and Antonio is much more effective in the other half. On the right back front I just worry that Byram will get injured and we start putting round pegs in square holes again. (or is it square pegs in round holes) On the centre forward front I have a feeling that Sakho won`t play for us again, hope I`m wrong, but just a feeling I have, which leaves us with one proven specialist striker. Perhaps this is just my natural Hammers pessimism kicking in after two straight wins.

MrsGrey

Why so pessimistic about Sakho???

And on Ayew I have spotted this snippet in an article about Senegal/Kouyate on the OS.
Incorrect reports suggested the No20 had contracted malaria ahead of the victory over Mali. While the Hammers star was ill, he has dismissed claims he is suffering from the disease.

"'I wasn't feeling well," he said. "I had some temperature and therefore had little training for two days but the medical team treated me well.

Read more at http://www.whufc.com/news/articles/2017/january/24-january/kouyate-eyes-afcon-title#5lSWDgBoJaxjrg7X.99

WHU_Champo_league_in_7_years

Don't see what Nordtveit did so wrong at right back

He was often left exposed and on the most part did his job well enough

With Nordtveit in the squad instead of Byram we don't go from a mid table side to a relegation side

We are only competing on one front now we are out of the cups so think buying stop gaps or mediocre players isn't worth it

We can try for a right back but who knows if they aren't good enough (i.e, Jenkinson) well just have to replace them in the summer anyways

TheMadcapLaughs

Just a feeling I have Mrs G. Nordveit isn`t the worst player I`ve seen, not by a long way, but I don`t think he`s a premier league quality right back and would get targeted. I`m not saying that there is a right back tailor made for us out there and available, but I think it is a gamble relying on Byram. I think a right back is more pressing/urgent than Snodgrass or Hogan. If we sign no-one then we will be OK, I would just be more comfortable with another right back. I personally would still try and get Jenkinson.

eskimoking

See, the cheered and agree identities are weird. I swear I wrote a post to disagree with a point alderz made and he's agreed with it ;hmm ;wahoo

MunichHammer

We are only competing on one front now we are out of the cups so think buying stop gaps or mediocre players isn't worth it

We can try for a right back but who knows if they aren't good enough (i.e, Jenkinson) well just have to replace them in the summer anyways

Hindsight is a lovely thing. When we signed Payet, Kouyate, Lanzini and Antonio I very much doubt many of us had heard of them. Moses and Song, on the other hand, were known entities. I don't see how laat season's success could have been foreseen, let alone expected.

Then this year we sign Zaza, Ayew, Tore and Feghouli - all seasoned internationals and Nordveit who was captain of a club playing CL football. I wouldn't call these additions shabby.


They often didn't work out, true, but I don't see how the blame for this can be laid at the doors of our owners. You win some, you lose some. It happens to all the teams and in the case of ManU or City they simply invest more money.

Money, however, doesn't buy titles, so just paying more doesn't equate to goals.

We're practically safe, so relax. It seems a dark cloud has been lifted from the players's minds. Enjoy the rest of the season.