The Transfer Window

IronHerb

Barkley has had two 'new' challenges, at Villa and Chelsea, and is nowhere near the player he promised to be. Ox is too injury prone and Loftus Cheek would be too expensive and, imo, not good enough.

alderz

I like Loftus-Cheek, and still think he would be a good player for us. I think Ox would be great if he was fit, but he rarely is and we need to avoid that type of player. Barkley is rubbish

BubblesNeverDies

I'm worried that Scamacca might have seen the game today and changed his mind.

thornburyiron

Not sure he’s decided yet anyway.

OldCastleSwift

Gone very quiet, hasn't it. Today was supposedly a key day for Scamacca, but not much at all from any of the ITKs that were all over this deal yesterday.

Ravel49

According to Sportitalia, Sassuolo will receive €36m plus another €6m in add-ons, but those bonuses will be very easy to achieve, so that makes it effectively a €42m move.
Scamacca is ready to sign a five-year contract once he has agreed all the personal terms, which is likely to be done tomorrow.
The Italy international is expected in London for his medical by Tuesday at the latest.
He was left out of several pre-season friendlies, as Sassuolo knew that Scamacca was heading for the exit.

Bazshuayi

PSG were interested and out of the two of us he'd prefer to go there. Maybe they've last minute poked their faces in after a deal was agreed with us...

thornburyiron

According to SSN we are still talking personal terms with Scamacca but Kostic has not decided if he wants to join us as Frankfurt are in the CL

yoyo

IronHerb said:

Barkley has had two 'new' challenges, at Villa and Chelsea, and is nowhere near the player he promised to be. Ox is too injury prone and Loftus Cheek would be too expensive and, imo, not good enough.

I agree, I was saying how good they were, rather than how good they are.

ASLEFshrugged

Kostic will be 30 in November and will be out-of-contract at the end of the season

This would be his 9th season in the Bundesliga (Stuttgart, Hamburg, Frankfurt) but his first ever playing Champions League

In the last three seasons he's spent more time on the pitch than any other Frankfurt player, last season he was in the starting XI 40 times out of a possible 43

If Kostic wants to leave Frankfurt then surely the smart move is to stay for the opportunity to play in the Champions League and pick up a hefty signing on fee next summer.

Lukerz

Yeah it seems a bit of a dead end this deal. He’s just qualified for the CL & has a year left. He can either run it down or get a nice new contract from EF, whilst playing in the CL. Not the best timing to pursue this signing.

Lukerz

https://twitter.com/fabrizioromano/status/1551095333807017984

alderz

The one thing I’d say about Kostic, though, is that there is a big difference in perception of signing a 29 year old and a 30 year old. Realistically, if he leaves now he’ll still get a big payday because the Bundesliga has less money than the PL and we would very likely offer more than Frankfurt. Sure, one year makes little difference really, I do think that a lot of teams, a lot of fans, are anti signing 30+ year olds. Maybe he sees this as an opportunity to cash in, maybe he’s always wanted to play in the PL and he thinks this is his last summer to go there.

I agree that it’s unlikely based on what ASLEF said, but there is a counter argument IMO

Bazshuayi

Perhaps trying now, whatever the limited chance is, is better than next year when hes a free agent and courted by plenty of others. Throwing that 'extra 8M' at him now could see us get him. Yes, its CL for Frankfurt nut how long will they stay in it? The lure of the premier league and the pay ramp he'll get is a good incentive too. I'll be optimistic (until Monday when we're Luke Leicestering again)

Lukerz

Is Scamacca just a power move to get Broja? I don’t really see, doing some research on him, how he fits into our style of play? We got rid of Haller for not really suiting how we played. Is this guy just a repeat?

Ravel49

Sassulo CEO

Speaking to Corriere dello Sport, Carnevali discussed the details behind Scamacca’s transfer to West Ham, confirming the figures and the inclusion of a resale clause.
“€36m plus €6m in add-ons and 10% on the eventual resale for Scamacca. That sounds good to me, doesn’t it? Also because West Ham is a selling club.
“Scamacca is the present and the future of Italy, a complete striker, he has improved a lot in the last year, he has potential that’s still unexpressed. He possesses physicality , technique, he has to learn to play more with his teammates.
“And he has an extraordinary shot, when he kicks it the ball has a different sound. In addition, he is a great kid, very good. All the stories about his father and grandfather aren’t related to him.”

OldCastleSwift

Lukerz said:

Is Scamacca just a power move to get Broja? I don’t really see, doing some research on him, how he fits into our style of play? We got rid of Haller for not really suiting how we played. Is this guy just a repeat?

I thought he was a power move. But then things seemed to kick off on Friday.

Despite all the noise, I'm still not convinced it'll happen. We supposedly agreed a deal on Friday morning, but he's not expected to arrive in the country for a medical until Tuesday. Feels a bit like it's being dragged out. Is it to allow someone else to gazump us as we're not actually that committed to the deal? Is it to give Chelsea more time to change their position on Broja?

I've said from the start that I'd be surprised is Scamacca was a Moyes target. Something just doesn't feel right about the whole thing.

ASLEFshrugged

I don't think Moyes would pay £30m on a "power move", I think he's decided he that Broja on a loan without an option to buy at the end wasn't good enough

Scamacca looks pretty good on YouTube, good acceleration and off the ball movement although I think he might have benefited from some rather generous bottom half of Serie A defending.

Last season Scamacca played as a lone striker in a 4-2-3-1 so he used to the formation and his role in it. At Frankfurt Haller played in a front two partnership with Rebic or Jovic, I don't think he ever quite got the hang of Moyesball

IronHerb

I hope it's not a power move. I think he is better than Broja.

Pearces_Left_Foot

I would be quite happy with scammacca he has played abroad before in Holland is strong and can hold the ball (unlike Haller) he technically very good , can finish , run the channels all the reports I have read people think he is a very good player with a good attitude. I think Newman recommended him but can see why Moyes wants him as I can see him be an out ball when we are under pressure , he can link play aswell as getting in the box and finishing. We rely too much on co7nter attacking and our midfield getting goals we need a different type of focal point to Antonio. I am hoping we get the signing down early next week.

Bazshuayi

I really hope we get him over the line. He looks like a proper all round striker. His goals last season were tap ins, outside the box and headers. Physical presence and technical ability. He's young but has a good attitude and head on his shoulders apparently plus when he improves he will have the bigger boys calling for him. He doesnt look short of pace and I dont see why he wouldnt be a great fit as our central striker as he's got good movement and a proper shot on him (I love Antonio but he needs to go back to the wing or sub on to give the main striker a break). At 6'5' he wont be a threat from our set pieces?? Imagine having to deal with him and our defenders at free kicks and corners.

(the pessimist in me thinks we'll make a massive profit on him in a year or two)

thornburyiron

Doesn’t that make you an optimist. We usually make a massive loss

Bazshuayi

To add... Up until very recently I wanted Broja. However, I dont think hes as good or advanced as Scamacca and also I dont think Chelsea will sell him (and if that actually does happen he'll have a buy back or a big percentage on any future transfer). I dont want us to hope to loan a 20 year old who hasn't done much at all plus is basically virtually all potential. I'm not knocking him, I just dont think Chelsea will play ball and perhaps (whether it was our original intent or not) Scamacca will be the silver lining.

Slacker

Be great if we got them both wouldn’t it?

IronHerb

Oooh, you tease.

Expat_Hammer

Just wonder how much he'll be on FF when he signs

Lukerz

https://twitter.com/westhamtransfer/status/1551186577237446656

Ravel49

Club does like an Italian Striker.. (Zola manager):

Ravel49

Think someone jumped the gun tho with the ‘golden’ one

WHU_Champo_league_in_7_years

It's not done till he's there with the shirt on on the club site