Summer Transfer Window 2023

Hamstew

My biggest worry is there is no way Moyes drops Soucek for anyone imo. So even if JWP and Mctominay come in. I'm seriously concerned that he thinks he is going to be our No.6.

buffybegood

Hamstew said:

My biggest worry is there is no way Moyes drops Soucek for anyone imo. So even if JWP and Mctominay come in. I'm seriously concerned that he thinks he is going to be our No.6.

I agree. The whole of the early part of the transfer window seemed to focus on getting in a dedicated 6, a DM to just sit and break up the play, Palhinha, or Alvarez being the 2 we seemed most interested in.

Now we're being strongly linked to both JWP and McTominay, and, if we bring those in we'll have 3 8's (4 conceivably if you include Paqueta) and no 6 at all. For all his defensive attributes (especially aerially), Soucek's (and arguably West Ham's as a whole) form seemed to decline when Rice started playing more as an 8 rather than a 6; Soucek isn't the 6 that we seem to desperately need.

jay_in_cpt

I actually think some players are put off joining us with Moyes as manager, it’s just my opinion mind, no concrete 🤣 evidence to back it up, but when Harvey Barnes signed for Newcastle he mentioned the way they play etc, doesn’t seem to add up to a Moyes team IMO…
Everyone knows that so far this has been a shocking transfer window ( incoming’s, no complaints about fee for Rice ) but that the whole world knew he was leaving IMO We should have had a replacement for him signed a long time ago…. IMO…
Most of the names we are supposed to be making offers for are all very uninspiring, Maguire, Mctominay , JWP etc etc, but we can hope that the powers that be are working on names that have not been mentioned as yet.
While the window closes a couple of weeks after the season starts this window has the same stink to it as last…..Another excuse Moyes can use if things don’t get off to a good start I suppose…
Each to their own and bully for those who have the faith the signings we need and want are going to happen, but from the outset it looks rather shoddy to me, I hope to be proved well wrong of course…..

EXETERHAMMER

Agree Potts on loan is fine. However, we are currently much weaker than we were last season.

thornburyiron

Did the whole world know Rice was leaving. We wanted £100M plus and if nobody offered it he was going nowhere.

jay_in_cpt

thornburyiron said:

Did the whole world know Rice was leaving. We wanted £100M plus and if nobody offered it he was going nowhere.

Yeh, think it’s was obvious IMO…
It didn’t come out the blue and Arsenal had been on his case for months, they were going to pay what was needed to get their number 1 target, perhaps we should try that 🤣

Slacker

This thing with Arsenal lining Declan up months ago and getting in his ear ages ago, where does it come from?

Yeoldhammer

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2023/jul/29/west-ham-transfer-power-struggle-david-moyes-tim-steidten

Lukerz

I don’t get the issue? Surely the point is to work together & if Steidten finds somebody who Moyes is not sure on, the deal doesn’t happen & vice versa? I don’t see that as tension, just a difference of opinion. With all due respect to Steidten, he is coming into the PL with no real understanding of what sort of player it takes to play there. It’s not the Bundesliga. Moyes is experienced in this league & needs to be involved & they need to agree on players. Steidten surely makes cases for potential players & communicates that to Moyes. It’s his job to convince Moyes to agree that these players will take us forward.

Lukerz

Also, the idea that Moyes needs help because some of last years signings haven’t worked is very short-sighted. We made several signings last summer & only Cornet, Emerson & Areola had PL experience. There are players who we signed last summer who may have improved seasons this year. This is just yet another example of a lack of clear direction at the top of the club. Rob Newman last summer, Mark Noble last summer, Steidten this summer, Moyes remaining in charge. Sullivan involved. Brady involved. Who is doing what? If the idea is that Steidten is meant to select players for Moyes, then employing both seems a ridiculous decision when we know how Moyes likes to work.

OldCastleSwift

Lukerz said:

I don’t get the issue? Surely the point is to work together & if Steidten finds somebody who Moyes is not sure on, the deal doesn’t happen & vice versa? I don’t see that as tension, just a difference of opinion. With all due respect to Steidten, he is coming into the PL with no real understanding of what sort of player it takes to play there. It’s not the Bundesliga. Moyes is experienced in this league & needs to be involved & they need to agree on players.

The issue is that Steidten was brought in to be "responsible for the Club's overarching player recruitment strategy". If that strategy is to buy emerging talents from the continent (e.g. Fofana) and Moyes isn't on board, then you have a problem.

This is why plenty have been advocating Moyes going after Prague. Bringing in Steidten and a manager that was on the same page would have made more sense, to me at least. Agreement on strategy, on players etc. and we'd probably have a few new faces in and a coherent plan. As it is, it all sounds like a bit of a mess, doesn’t it.

Lukerz

So a mess at the top of the club. There isn’t room for both, yet that’s what we decided.

I just don’t feel you can allow a manager to have no say in signings. Given it’s his job that is on the line & he has to coach them.

Lukerz

Twitter awash with ‘Moyes, get out of my club’.

Steidten’s been here 5 mins. 😂

OutcastLondoner

I don’t think the problem is about Moyes or Steidten but that there seems to be no strategy in bringing them together. You either had to make sure Steidten was on the same page as Moyes or you had to break with Moyes (not saying I want that) and make sure that manager sees the vision Steidten has.

Hopefully there’s a way for them to work it out. I think there’s a logic in getting some British players in, especially if we lose Cresswell, but perhaps a bit of both will work.

I do have questions about whether British = leadership. Check the Southampton forums and there’s plenty of criticism about JWP’s leadership abilities and Maguire’s spent the last few seasons overwhelmed by his responsibilities at Man U. He might not recover from that so quickly.

Lukerz

Yes, the reality is we require some home grown players anyway, & it’s important to replace the likes of Rice with players who know what the expectation of the PL is.

jay_in_cpt

So, we’ve received the highest amount received for a player in the PL this window ( albeit in staged payments), we’ve bought in Steiden who supposedly deals with transfers, we keep making strange very low offers for underwhelming players ( IMO ) and we are the only PL team yet to sign a player, something just seems off…
But hey, we have time on our hands and trust in Moyes etc etc 🏃

MrsGrey

OutcastLondoner said:

I

I do have questions about whether British = leadership.

Is that being widely pushed as a reason? (Genuine question, as I've not seen that idea mentioned in connection with signing home-grown players.)

imo, it's rubbish. Since when are leadership skills a national characteristic? lol

IronHerb

Yep, still over a month to go.

Chelsea Summer 2023 Exp £96m I/C £217.6m Net +£121.6m

OutcastLondoner

MrsGrey said:

OutcastLondoner said:

I

I do have questions about whether British = leadership.

Is that being widely pushed as a reason? (Genuine question, as I've not seen that idea mentioned in connection with signing home-grown players.)

imo, it's rubbish. Since when are leadership skills a national characteristic? lol

It’s suggested in the Steinburg article, that these players offer solidity, British core and replace leadership lost with Rice and Noble.

I’d say Ogbonna is more of a leader than Dawson was but I think the average person asked would think Dawson is because of how he appears and plays.

Hamstew

It's a shame Davey boy is preoccupied in France as Scott looks like a good little player in the friendly I'm watching

PrestonHammer

I'm not sure what they're trying to achieve with the bids that have been made. I mean I know Maguire has not been great these past couple of seasons but Man Utd were never going to accept a bid of 20 million. Plus he's on silly money, to me it seems completely pointless.

OldCastleSwift

Another out.

Kamarai Swyer joins League 2 Crawley on loan for the season.

Hamstew

At least I'll be able to see him next season.

thornburyiron

As Steidten has no knowledge at all of the PL other than perhaps what he’s seen on TV, finding a manager on the same wavelength and page as him would be difficult unless you pick a German manager. Presumably we’d then have no one at the top with PL experience.

Bazshuayi

Has anyone heard/seen Moyes (or someone else in authority) actually detail what sort of players in terms of numbers in we're looking at? Just curious if its been detailed.

Fortuneseeker

thornburyiron said:

As Steidten has no knowledge at all of the PL other than perhaps what he’s seen on TV, finding a manager on the same wavelength and page as him would be difficult unless you pick a German manager. Presumably we’d then have no one at the top with PL experience.

As good as Tim Steidten is you can't tell me he doesn't know all about the EPL.

Have Brighton had a problem with De Zerbi coming in to replace Potter or Emery @ Arsenal and now Aston Villa? Managers in the past have come in from around Europe & hit the ground running I don't doubt any replacement for David Moyes couldn't do the same and might even just be able to see the sense in recruiting some good young players to supplement the team/squad.

thornburyiron

Maybe or maybe not. He’s an ex professional who was at 7 clubs during his career but only 2 of those actually played him and he made 48 career appearances over about 12 years.
As a technical director I’m not sure what his actual credentials are and what success he actually achieved.

alderz

thornburyiron said:

Maybe or maybe not. He’s an ex professional who was at 7 clubs during his career but only 2 of those actually played him and he made 48 career appearances over about 12 years.
As a technical director I’m not sure what his actual credentials are and what success he actually achieved.

Didn’t Mourinho get roughly 0 professional appearances?

thornburyiron

I thought he had about 100 appearances but I’m not sure what your point is. He’s been an assistant manager/coach or manager/head coach. As far as I’m aware he’s not been a technical director. He’s always had control at the clubs.

Ravel49

‘Monaco, RB Leipzig, and West Ham United have emerged as potential buyers for the forgotten Juventus man. However, none of them are ready to go beyond €15m to close the deal. With the Bianconeri reluctant to budge on their stance, Zakaria is more likely to stay put.‘