westhamfans.org

Saturday 10th August
PREMIER LEAGUE
West Ham United
12:30 Manchester City

Saturday 17th August
PREMIER LEAGUE
Brighton & Hove Albion
15:00 West Ham United

Saturday 24th August
PREMIER LEAGUE
Watford
15:00 West Ham United

Saturday 31st August
PREMIER LEAGUE
West Ham United
15:00 Norwich City

Saturday 14th September
PREMIER LEAGUE
Aston Villa
15:00 West Ham United

Saturday 21st September
PREMIER LEAGUE
West Ham United
15:00 Manchester United

Rumours that West Ham United were going to start the new Barclays Premier League season with an a away match at Watford due to some creative photoshopping of a supposed fixture list, have been firmly dispelled with the news that the Irons have been handed the poisoned chalice of a home game to start the season, against Manchester City at 12:30 on Saturday the 10th of August!

Rumours that West Ham are back in for Maxi Gomez may have emanated from Hammers contacting Celta Vigo about Gomez'z team mate Stanislav Lobokta, the 24 year old Slovakian midfielder, dubbed ‘the new Luka Modric', could be available for around €15-20 Million. Unfortunately any whimsical thoughts of a €60 Million double signing of both Gomez and Lobokta will have to remain a pipe dream, it appears pragmatism prevails, that is unless a 'big' name leaves the club of course.

Despite ostensibly possessing a 'paltry' £30 Million transfer kitty, West Ham United have been linked with a plethora of players, the latest of which is Marseille midfielder Morgan Sanson. The 24 year old previously played for Le Mans and Montpellier before joining Marseille in January 2017, Sanson plays in central midfield at the Stade Olympique but as Marseille failed to qualify for Europe this season after a fifth place finish in Ligue 1, the French side might need to sell some players to comply with FFP regulations.

Parents of petulant but gifted children will always try to excuse their bad behaviour by saying "they get bored, they are just much cleverer than the other kids", Hammers boss Manuel Pellegrini knows all about 'clever kids', goodness knows he has 'dealt' with quite a few of them during his long and illustrious career. So the news that Marko Arnautovic is throwing his toys out of the pram will come as no surprise to the Chilean, but it doesn't mean he'll like it.

Admittedly it is the beginning of the transfer silly season, and as such speculation is rife, but there are some wildly polarised stories regarding potential dealings between Turkish outfit Fenerbahce and West Ham United. That old 'friend' of the Irons, a certain Mr Damien Comolli, yes the same one who used to do the dirty work for Daniel Levy and the 'unmentionables', is rumoured to be on his way to London in order to try and buy Hammers midfielder Manuel Lanzini on the cheap!

Edimilson Fernandes has joined German Bundesliga club 1. FSV Mainz on a permanent transfer for an undisclosed fee, the reason the fee is undisclosed is confusing to most people, in essence by stating the fee is undisclosed both selling and buying club are free to structure the payments in order to harmonise with their fiscal declarations, this form of 'secrecy' is very common, particularly in Europe.

Manuel Pellegrini and Mario Husillos's proposed wholesale changes to the Hammers squad included a goal keeper, a right back/left back, a 'robust' midfielder and a couple of strikers. With regards to the back up keeper role, a bit like London Buses, not one but two have arrived in a very short space of time.

West Ham have signed David Martin, son of Hammers legend Alvin, from Millwall, the 33-year-old joins on a free transfer. Martin rejected a new contract offer from Millwall and has instead agreed a two-year deal with the Hammers.

Rarely does a Hammers transfer target had such an apt name, as the club are closing in on signing Greece midfielder Kostas Fortounis from Olympiakos. The 26 year old can play as a centre back or in midfield and stands 6'2" tall, so he won't get intimidated. The price being talked about is around £16 Million, not cheap but relatively inexpensive in today's insanely inflated market, so he won't 'cost a fortune'!
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Hammers have neatly arranged a 'spanish take over' as back up between the sticks, Roberto, 33, will join them on a two-year contract on July 1, once his deal with La Liga club Espanyol expires, he will replace Adrian San Miguel. Many, many Hammers fans will be sad to see Adrian leave the club, and rightly so, he was a stalwart as custodian but was usurped by Lukasz Fabianski.