Transfer Speculation

Cuz1

Expat_Hammer said:

I can honestly say that I was one of the doubters over this one. More than happy to have been proved wrong

COYI

Me too then after a few games thought well he’s a good stop gap, then few more games and I’m thinking it’s impossible to drop him so well done Craig Dawson the humble pie is really filling 😂😂

yoyo

I didn't know anything about him ,as I have no interest in Watford. I was therefore not against him but at the same time thought it was slightly underwhelming . I think he's been great. Good old fashioned no nonsense centre back who gets stuck in. He deserves to stay here full time and it would be a travesty otherwise

MrsGrey

Horses for courses.

claretandbluesky

A shout out for Diop as well who must have had his confidence knocked but has stepped in very well. Not one defender giving anything other than 100% at present, Arthur played well before getting injured but hard to see how he gets in a look in at present.

Lukerz

I don't think we've had one defender lose their place this season due to form, or any player for that matter.

OldCastleSwift

According to Ex there's an obligation to buy Dawson if he plays a certain number of PL games for us. £2.5m, apparently.

whupathman

good he has earnt it

alderz

OldCastleSwift said:

According to Ex there's an obligation to buy Dawson if he plays a certain number of PL games for us. £2.5m, apparently.

I wonder what the number is, and whether there are enough games left to trigger it. Maybe he only started playing after a certain number of games so we wouldn’t be forced to sign him

Kuchinghammer

I never doubted Dawson, never. Thought he was a good cheap stop-gap signing who would do for a couple of cup games....

OldCastleSwift

alderz said:

OldCastleSwift said:

According to Ex there's an obligation to buy Dawson if he plays a certain number of PL games for us. £2.5m, apparently.

I wonder what the number is, and whether there are enough games left to trigger it. Maybe he only started playing after a certain number of games so we wouldn’t be forced to sign him

Ex said it's either 15 or 20 games. With 13 league games to go I can only see injury preventing the obligation.

ASLEFshrugged

I thought Dawson would make a good back up and that was all

I didn't realise he'd made 182 Premier League appearances for Watford and West Brom or that he scored against us back in February 2014.

Trust in the Tartan Diego Simeone

Dodger58

I don't think the number of games or 'obligation' will be relevant here, we'll just complete the deal. I assume that will be the end for Balbuena as a Hammer following the progress Alese and Akinola have made and the acquisition of Alves.

ASLEFshrugged

Not so sure about Balbuena*, Diop has been up and down every since he joined while Oggy will be 33 in May, he's not getting any younger and we still don't know how bad his ankle injury is.

* Balbuena 30 in August

As for progress...

Alves is an unknown quantity at Premier League level, he could turn out to be good but we won't know until he actually plays.

Akinola and Alese are currently on loan in League 2. Akinola is doing okay at Leyton Orient, 16 starts out of 24 games but since deadline day Alese has been pretty much stuck on the bench at Cambridge Utd, four games with only had one half hour appearance.

OldCastleSwift

Good statting ASLEF.

The U23s are struggling in the PL this season, so I'm not convinced that there are too many ready for the step up. Ashby seemed decent in the cup game he played, and Afolayan is doing well in League 1 by accounts, but no-one is really putting their hand up for a first team call.

OutcastLondoner

I think Diop came with a bundle of raw talent while very young but has not developed, maybe because of the repeated manager switches and the team being defensively bad as a whole. He’s still young so I think the conditions right now under Moyes are pretty much perfect over the next year or so to see whether he’ll reach the potential he looked like he had when he first joined. I think his main problem has been judgement errors and that can be coached out of him. We don’t want lots of 30+ CBs and then a jump to inexperienced young ones so getting Diop to step up in the way Ogbonna has could be quite important long-term (or we have to find someone around the same age who is better).

ASLEFshrugged

Our current CBs

Ogbonna 23 May 1988 (32)
Cresswell 15 Dec 1989 (31)
Dawson 6 May 1990 (30)
Balbuena 23 August 1991 (29)

Diop 9 Jan 1997 (24)

Looks like we might be relying on the over 30s for at least another season or two

IronHerb

Cresswell isn't a CB. he plays third CB but when the smallest player in the Spurs team scores from a header with Cresswell marking him well......

WHU_Champo_league_in_7_years

Sergio Ramos (34), Jerome Boeteng (32), Hummels (32), Gerard Pique (34), Bonucci (33), Thiago Silva (36)

You could argue that all of the above are still the outstanding CB at their respective cubs, all of which compete for trophies year in year out

We obviously need to have a plan to ensure they don't get too old, but CB is an old mans position and shouldn't have too many concerns as Ogbonna (32) is the oldest and is still playing the best football of his career

Agree that their is a platform for Diop to really develop and reach his potential which has been seen in glimpses

claretandbluesky

I have said before we need keep Diop as he looks really good bearing in mind Centre backs reach their best later than many positions. At present everyone is behind Ogbonna in the pecking order, but he is not getting any younger. In three years time Oggy, Dawson and Baubena will be getting past their best and Diop will be 27 and coming into his prime.

I would of course sell him for the right price but not just because we don't need him at present. We never know the personalities and roles our players have beyond match day but I would like to see Oggie taking him under his wing and treating him like his apprentice As what a role model he is.

Ravel49

West Ham will only listen to offers in excess of £100m for 22-year-old England midfielder Declan Rice. (Talksport)


West Ham will look to make the loan signing of Manchester United's Jesse Lingard permanent but Leicester City are also monitoring the 28-year-old. (Eurosport)

ASLEFshrugged

Lingard has already been to Leicester. spent two months on loan at the end of 2012 when they were in the Championship, made five appearances for a total of 76 minutes.

Clearly he didn't fancy the place otherwise he'd have stayed longer

Highcross no match for Westfield

BubblesNeverDies

Diamantis_Are_Forever said:

West Ham will only listen to offers in excess of £100m for 22-year-old England midfielder Declan Rice. (Talksport)

talkSPORT host Jim White claims West Ham’s owners value Rice in excess of £100million.
He added: “Sullivan has already told me it’s got to be north of £100m or they won’t entertain it."

If Sully said that very recently, it seems to go against what Moyes is trying to do. Maybe what Moyes said about investing in players to keep Deccers has made Sully nervous at the thought of opening his wallet.

yoyo

I guess everyone has their price. I'm sure if a bid of £100m came in then it would be given consideration

IronHerb

Every player has his price though. Rice's has just gone from £60m to £100m plus

ASLEFshrugged

Thankfully Jim White has gained a reputation for talking absolute rubbish so we can ignore anything he says...

...unless it actually happens which is more likely pure coincidence rather than any insight on his behalf

IronHerb

But he is Sullivans mouthpiece.

Lukerz

Nobody’s going to buy Rice for at least another year. COVID will have an impact on clubs this summer. Nobody is going to sign Rice for upwards of £80m in the current climate. He’a a fantastic player but you don’t spend that sort of money on a DM at a time where money will be tight. He’s only 22. He’s got another year or two here he can spare.

alderz

BubblesNeverDies said:

Diamantis_Are_Forever said:

West Ham will only listen to offers in excess of £100m for 22-year-old England midfielder Declan Rice. (Talksport)

talkSPORT host Jim White claims West Ham’s owners value Rice in excess of £100million.
He added: “Sullivan has already told me it’s got to be north of £100m or they won’t entertain it."

If Sully said that very recently, it seems to go against what Moyes is trying to do. Maybe what Moyes said about investing in players to keep Deccers has made Sully nervous at the thought of opening his wallet.

I think the two statements can coexist truthfully. Moyes knows we need to keep growing to keep Rice happy, but that doesn't mean that if we fail to do that and he wants to leave we'll let him go on the cheap. Like, we know how to keep him happy, but if any club wants to test our resolve then give us £100m and we'll talk.

buffybegood

No way, imo, that Sully refuses a bid of 100m, not in a million years.

BubblesNeverDies

Alderz
Like, we know how to keep him happy, but if any club wants to test our resolve then give us £100m and we'll talk.

I quite like that, they have to pay £100m before we even start discussing a fee