January 2024 window (cos we're talking about transfers on other threads and it's less 2 months away)
And where better to start than the perennial Youssef En-Nesyri rumour which has surfaced every window since summer 2019
According to ABC Sevilla he wants to leave and Sevilla wish they'd taken up our offer in the summer. Despite that he is currently Sevilla's top scorer with 7 goals in 15 and his contract doesn't expire until 2025
The good news is that we only have 16 "foreign" players and as we've discussed elsewhere we're allowed 17
Let the speculation begin!
According to ABC Sevilla he wants to leave and Sevilla wish they'd taken up our offer in the summer. Despite that he is currently Sevilla's top scorer with 7 goals in 15 and his contract doesn't expire until 2025
The good news is that we only have 16 "foreign" players and as we've discussed elsewhere we're allowed 17
Let the speculation begin!
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Comments
Maybe if they sign a new CB in January
Last Friday ten Hag said Varane was fit but he stayed on the bench until 90+3 mins. Last night both Varane and Lindelof were on the bench with Varane coming on when Jonny Evans got injured after 16 mins.
It'll be interesting to see who starts against Luton at the weekend
Have to say I wouldnt mind him. He's industrious, a presence/works hard and seems like he can also put it in the net sometimes too (the guy from PSG preferred but Solanke is a decent forward I think)
https://www.thesun.co.uk/sport/24783846/west-ham-transfer-bid-dominic-solanke-40m-offer/
Further down the article it mentions that we had a £40m bid rejected in August and with 3 years on Solanke's contract it would take a lot more to convince Bournemouth to sell
It then links us with PSG's 21yo Hugo Ekitike who signed from Reims for £25m in the summer. Four year contract but was signed before Luis Enrique took over, was an 82nd minute substitute in the first game, was on the bench for the next two games and hasn't been seen since. Also linked with Newcastle and Palace
Another option they mention is RB Leipzig and ex-Chelsea Timo Werner who rejoined the club on a four year deal in August 2022 but has only made four starts this season and has been told that he is free to leave. Linked with Fulham and Palace.
Not that we seem to want a striker, Moyes seems to be happy playing with three wingers/attacking midfielders and the two strikers we have can't even get in the starting XI.
https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/transfer-news/west-ham-transfer-news-dominic-31468221
Its alternative Feyenoord's 22yo Santiago Gimenez (born in Argentina but plays for Mexico), joined in 2022 on a 4 year contract, currently joint top scorer in the Eredivisie (13) although Feyenoord want to keep him until the end of the season. Linked with Spurs, Arsenal and Atletico Madrid
https://www.thewesthamway.com/2023/11/19/discussions-took-place-exwhuemployee-west-ham-timo-werner-update/
Gimenez would be a great signing but I suspect we'll struggle to get him given the other clubs he's been linked with. Ekitike is a bit of an odd one. He was on loan at PSG last season, and, although he struggled to get much game time (hardly surprising given their attacking options) he did trigger an obligation to buy. As ASLEF says, doesn't seem to be much of a part of the new manager's plans.
Timo Wener on loan is one possibility Ex mentions along with 27yo Guinean CF Serhou Guirassy of VfB Stuttgart, available for around £15m.
https://www.thewesthamway.com/2023/11/22/we-are-struggling-exwhuemployee-west-ham-january-transfer-budget/
I think that kills any hope of getting Solanke in January
He's not been called up for Ivory Coast in the last two international breaks and must be bored out of his mind
One possible explanation for not getting a striker signing across the line in the summer could be that one of these two is going to appear in January, and that, with Timmy having secured an agreement for such a move we'd limp through the first half of the season with what we had knowing that a reinforcement was already arranged for the mid-season window.
I think we'll see a delayed result from Timmy's Brazilian trip come January. Just a thought.
We currently have a first team squad of 25, excluding Trott and Downes who are both out on loan. Of that 25, I've just put a question mark against 14 as to whether they'll be here next season:
Fabianski - Will be 39 in April, not sure how much longer he can play
Johnson - Hasn't signed the contract he was offered, can't prove he's worth more unless he gets game time
Cresswell - Wanted away in the summer, will be OOC next summer, not good enough any more anyway
Kehrer - Doubt he's happy with the very limited amount of game-time he's getting
Zouma - His knees are a concern for the longer term; if a Saudi offer came in you'd think we'd be foolish to turn it down
Ogbonna - A great servant to the club but age has caught up and he needs to move on
Paqueta - Gotta feel that City would have asked a difficult question if not for the investigation. Could face a ban
Cornet - Nice cameo last night, but so rarely used you'd think he has no future here
Fornals - Looks a shadow of the player he was, love him, but time for a move for both him and us
Benrahma - So often flatters to deceive, end product too often lacking. LW feels a definite weak spot
Coventry - Yes, he's part of the squad, OOC in the summer I believe, no future here
Antonio - Past his best, time to go
Ings - Desperate punt when things looked bad on the striker front last Jan, offers nothing with how we play
Mubama - Hasn't signed the contract he's been offered, could be another youngster led away by an agent for cash elsewhere
This is mostly because of kicking the can down the road year after year, but it makes for pretty stark reading imo. Hopefully we'll keep Paqueta and he's free to play, and Mubama signs a contract, but whichever way you look at it, there's an awful lot of, imo, very justified question marks against players in our current squad, meaning a huge amount of work to be done by the end of the next summer window, so it would be great, if unlikely, to sort a couple of positions in January.
Cresswell, Ogbonna and Fab you'd imagine will see out their contracts and its the right time. Fab is still doing bits but he's clearly 2nd choice. Ogbonna and Cresswell have been amazing servants but neither are up to the level of the prem, deffo not by the summer 24
Johnson and Fornals it also looks likely. Bit disappointing, especially them leaving for free, but Johnson deffo needs a new starts he's regressed so much and Fornals hasn't been good enough recently either.
I'm excited about Mubama, and hope he renews but I've seen enough of these kids getting let go for free to huge fan uproar only to see them do nothing. He hasn't shown much as a pro and youth leagues are completely different. Callum Marshall is banging it in at youth level so if Mubama leaves he'll step up.
Anang and Coventry may as well not be here, you could promote Knightbridge and Kelly and be none the weaker
The core of our XI is pretty well balanced with a decent age
GK: Areola (30)
RB: Coufal (31)
CB: Zouma (29), Aguerd (27), Kehrer (27), Minos (25)
LB: Emerson (29)
CM: Soucek (28), JWP (29), Alvarez (28)
AM: Paqueta (26), Kudus (23), Benrahma (28)
CF: Bowen (26), Ings (31)
Don't expect Kehrer or Benrahma to leave, they seem to like it here. But if they do, its not really devastating.
Cornet and Antonio are more likely imo, Cornet has contributed nothing and.cant keep himself fit and Antonio was interested last summer in leaving, and given he's been dropped I think he'd be open to a move. Ings I think stays purely because we won't be able to shift his wages.
Downes I think it's 50/50, think we recoup his fee if he goes as he's doing well at the Saints but if he stays he's a bit of backup
The only players I am "worried" that will leave from the main team are Zouma and Paqueta. If Paqueta leaves, it will be for a LOT of money (the ban stuff has gone very quiet) like he was rumoured last year. If we get £90mil or more, it's a good deal and can be reinvested like we did the Rice money
Zouma is a weird one, he's our best CB but is far from irreplaceable. His contract goes in 2025, doubt he'd extend so next year probably the only year to cash in. Should be a decent fee for him if he does go
Big summer in terms of quantity but the outgoing players (Paqueta/Zouma aside) aren't exactly huge misses