'Bubble' Joins Hammers Ranks

West Ham have finally added 'bubble' born defender Konstantinos Mavropanos from Stuttgart for a fee of €21 Million excluding add ons. Mavropanos has signed a five-year contract with the Irons and has taken the number 15 shirt. The 25-year-old was Arsene Wenger's last signing at Arsenal but endured a torrid time between 2018 and 2022 where he made just seven Premier League appearances.

Standing at 6'5" tall Mavropanos is lethal in the air at both ends of the pitch and must be licking his lips at being on the end of James Ward-Prowse spot kicks, he will undoubtedly add strength in depth to Hammers back line, especially bearing in mind Nayef Aguerd's Morrocon commitment for the Africa Cup Of Nations competition which could see him away from the club for up to 2 months.

Konstantinos Mavropanos does have a point to prove and will relish measuring himself against the Premier League's best. It is not as if he hasn't experienced the hustle and bustle of the World's most frenetically paced league, but he is older and wiser now and possesses the physicality to endure all that is thrown at him.

Make no mistake, Konstantinos Mavropanos is not quite the finished article, but he represents such better value than the deal for Harry Maguire that nearly happened! at 25 years of age he is not even at his peak yet and would have a very useful sell on value if he was moved on in a few years.

Yet another good addition to the squad, it is a pity the deal was not concluded sooner, with so much time wasted pursuing Maguire, but it IS over the line now.

What new arrival has the 'Pearl Diver' next got up his sleeve? Expect plenty of action now the cuffs have finally been taken off of Tim Steidten, he has many 'irons in the fire' and a bulging black book of contacts waiting to be exploited, don't be surprised to see at least two more major signings before the window closes, possibly three!

OK so the victory over Chelsea might have been a bit of a false dawn, but you can bet your Paqueta that Steidten would have done a little bit better than Chelsea's recruitment team had he been given even half the resources they have squandered - Ed