Divin Mubama

I think we may have some discussion on Mubama until his contract talks are concluded so I thought i would start a thread.

I would be in favour of taking a chance on Mubama within these contract talks. We have gambled on two strikers from abroad and lost out, we need a new striker and I think if Mubama goes we need pay quite a fee for the next gamble. There is no fee for Mubama, so lets give him more than we feel is possibly sensible and hope he can begin to step up.

I don't think there is any chance of us finding another 30-40m to gamble on the next striker this season and perhaps a loan will arrive in January. Antonio and Ings would attract little in fees if sold next summer so that striker would be a large chunk of our budget. I of course have no idea how far apart we are from what he is asking but if we gave him a four year deal at 20k per week more than he is asking that is a gamble of just over £2m against paying £30-40m for the next Scamacca and them being on probably 3 times what Mubama may be asking.

I am sure Moyes and the club have appraised his potential and maybe they just feel he wont make it in the first team but If it's just about money I would take the gamble. He may be the next Lukaku or even Drogba?
«1

Comments

  • He is not ready to lead the line but certainly should be ahead of Ings in the pecking order.

    We need a top quality striker to come and Mubama then needs to become second choice to that player.

    I think the club need to move on from Antonio whether that hurts us or doesn't, otherwise we end up like Leicester with Vardy.
  • So far he’s not done enough to show he can start in the Premier League, but he’s also not had the opportunity to show that. He needs to be the guy that comes on after an hour or seventy minutes, and gets some minutes under his belt.
  • edited November 2023
    alderz said:

    So far he’s not done enough to show he can start in the Premier League, but he’s also not had the opportunity to show that. He needs to be the guy that comes on after an hour or seventy minutes, and gets some minutes under his belt.

    He's the perfect impact sub, 19 years old, strong, full of energy and enthusiasm, just what's needed against a tiring defence. Almost an Antonio MkII in that role.
  • Dare I say it, could he not start……….alongside Ings


    I KNOW
  • He’ll get a chance Thursday & needs to take it.
  • Lukerz said:

    He’ll get a chance Thursday & needs to take it.

    Fair play to him, he's taken every chance so far. If we count his 'goal' yesterday, he has easily the best minutes to goals ratio of the squad. (Stats would be helpful)
  • Lukerz said:

    He’ll get a chance Thursday & needs to take it.

    Fair play to him, he's taken every chance so far. If we count his 'goal' yesterday, he has easily the best minutes to goals ratio of the squad. (Stats would be helpful)
    Stats available here: https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/west-ham-united/leistungsdaten/verein/379

    When someone has only played 53 minutes all season I think that minutes per goal as a metric is pretty flawed. Really, it only feels relevant when someone has played maybe 500 minutes as a minimum.

    Also, it feels extra flawed when it's not his goal!
  • alderz is only upset because 53 minutes does give him enough time to enjoy looking at his spreadsheet hahaha
  • But he could set up a goals per minute for less than an 60 minutes playing time. 🤷‍♂️
  • Give him a go I say - as a famous compatriot once said “you’ll never win anything with kids”. Look how that turned out!
  • It's such a gamble to nothing when you consider Haller and Scamacca.

    This is pure speculation but if you imagine we are offering 20k per week and he wants 40k even at 40k that contract is an £8.3m gamble over four years. If after 2 years you find he really can't swim in these waters I feel sure he will have a lower league career and could be sold for at least something to off set that gamble somewhat.

    Is he Didier Drogba or Freddie Sears? no signing fee but £8m to find out?

  • The thing is, at £40k per week there probably isn't a market to sell him to. I think if he was shown that there is a legitimate offer of game time with us he'd probably sign.
  • I think I had read he had got himself a new agent somewhere which would indicate it's probably a money issue. Unless he wants to drop to the Championship or lower now I doubt anyone will be ready to give him starts at present. Although as out of contract I suspect someone will be willing take a gamble on his potential as I am advocating. I do see at 40k per week any sale will have that as a factor and see us paying some of that off to him to make a sale viable. I just like the look of him from the matches I saw last season in the 18s and his physicality is beyond his years so I think he could pay dividends for any gamble sooner rather than later. I am not sure what Ings is on but I know its been a waste since he has been here.
  • It's such a gamble to nothing when you consider Haller and Scamacca.

    This is pure speculation but if you imagine we are offering 20k per week and he wants 40k even at 40k that contract is an £8.3m gamble over four years. If after 2 years you find he really can't swim in these waters I feel sure he will have a lower league career and could be sold for at least something to off set that gamble somewhat.

    Is he Didier Drogba or Freddie Sears? no signing fee but £8m to find out?

    Whilst I see your argument, the potential issue is the knock on effect to other members of the first team squad and also to other youngsters coming through; in isolation yeah, a risk worth taking, but there are potentially wage structure issues to consider.
  • edited November 2023
    I was going to post something similar to Buffy, but when you look at our success rate with bringing strikers in, I do think there is some justification here.

    It looks like Perkins lack of success at Leeds may be impacting here too, but we cannot afford to lose ‘options’ like Mubama (and maybe Marshall, if the trend continues) for peanuts just to bring in a more experienced ’failure’ from elsewhere.
  • £40k a week is excessive. He's probably on £4-5k at the moment so £20k is a decent rise. You can always give him a better contract, at any stage, should he prove to be the real thing. Let's hope so.
  • I agree, but I would just like us to take that gamble rather than someone like Newcastle take it. In a sensible world 20k a week is a great contract for a 19 year old yet to break into the first team, but football isn't sensible and you have to gamble sometimes. I think he is worth the gamble.

    The sensible deal is as you describe, 20k contract and maybe rising to 30k on 20 starts and 40k at 40 starts.
  • Declan Rice was given 40k when he made the first team. I think Mubama should be on a little less than that at this stage.
  • One important factor to consider is that unlike the aforementioned strikers who've failed, Mubama will have been playing in the systems that Moyes favours. He's therefore got a head start on any outside strikers. Perkins was mentioned as not succeeding as well as some expected, may I suggest that he's not being used in the system that suits him ;)
    It must work both ways, no?
  • I do hope he starts tomorrow.
  • If he doesn't it's going to be hard for whoever's job it is to persuade him he has a future at the club. We have Antonio and Bowen out against a side that is probably league one standard. A Perfect opportunity as even if Moyes is concerned about offending Ings he can tell him he wants to save him for the league match on Sunday.
  • But I don't want him for the league match on Sunday =)
  • edited November 2023
    I hear ya Steve, I just think Moyes may do a bit of a Southgate and look after a senior player. And hope Kudus gets him out of trouble in the absence of a goal scorer upfront.
  • Kudus hasn't travelled.
  • Hard to judge Mubama on tonight's team performance.
  • Good by the ref, let play go on a good while, then booked their player when the ball eventually went dead.
  • 55% pass accuracy so far.
  • Felt sorry for him. Received exactly one pass to his feet, and few passes over the top for him to chase.
  • I know what you mean, but I don’t know that I felt sorry for him any more than I did for Ings. Antonio and Bowen work in our system and if Mubama is going to be the answer for us he’s going to have to be able to adapt to that role, as we’ve seen over the past few years that the team isn’t going adapt to a different striker.
Sign In or Register to comment.