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Braithwaite To Irons-Who's Having A Giraffe?

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Submitted by nevillenixon on Fri, 30/07/2021 - 16:55

According to a report in spanish media outlet Sport, the Denmark International Martin Braithwaite is very close to joining the Irons, one of their reporters Albert Roge has claimed that there is a “very advanced agreement” Via his personal Twitter account. Well, according to our twitter account that 'report' is stupid, a load of old cobblers, in Roge's language: una tonteria, un montón de zapateros viejos!

Why on this God's earth would Hammers stump up the 'reported' €15 Million transfer to 'cash strapped' Barcelona for a 30 year old who failed to impress in England before when playing for Middlesbrough? Roge's words of wisdom continued with
“Braithwaite, very close to West Ham. €15M transfer. Very advanced agreement between clubs. The forward’s OK is missing.”

Bit of a naff translation that one, as is often the case with 'scoops' from foreign media that are translated incorrectly. Braithwaite is supposedly still undecided whether he wants to tell Barcelona that West Ham are the club he would like to join.....He should be so lucky!

Barcelona can't wait to bounce Braithwaite out the Camp Nou door, it is not really a question of how much Barca would receive as a fee, more like how much they would pay a club to take his ridiculous wages of their books. Apparently there are 'several' clubs who have shown interest in Braithwaite, who however doesn't quite fit the 'looking for a final pay day' bracket, due to the fact that he is insanely wealthy in his own right, he has earned as much money as Lionel Messi!
Braithwaite's fortune though has come from off his off field business interests that he runs jointly with his brother and with his wife, property and fashion, how very nice. So he is over 30, not particularly good and demands massive wages, the exact polar opposite of David Moyes's player template of young, fit and hungry.

Apparently the only detail holding the deal back is the player's salary, crikey mikey he should be paying to play, Roge's having a giraffe! Not in our wildest nightmares, mind you, Sully does love a Scandic you know! - Ed

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No No No No No

Submitted by Enfieldhammer on Fri, 30/07/2021 - 15:41

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Depending where you look for your Hammers info we are close to signing the prolific goalscorer ( 2 in 29 ) Martin Braithwaite from Barcelona. It's reported we need to increase the £105k a week he is currently on! Well i would not pay £1.05 a week for this piece of shit. Would rather see Coufal & Rice given the money.
Glad to see the Phil Jones signing has seem to have run its course. Another piece of shit. Was hoping we had seen the back of waste of money signings.

Abraham & Perreira Add To Dream Team

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Submitted by nevillenixon on Fri, 30/07/2021 - 10:21

With just over 16 days to go before Hammers opening Barclays Premier League fixture against Newcastle up at St James', things finally look to be falling in place for what will be a turnkey season for the club. Given the welt of negativity surrounding the club's lack of activity in the transfer market, it is reassuring to see that David Moyes is proceeding with the pursuit of HIS transfer targets and NOT necessarily those of majority share holder David Sullivan.

That doesn't mean that David Moyes will completely ignore 'suggested' players from Sullivan, it is just that Moyes has seen first hand just how good and just how bad some of Sully's transfer dealings have been, also the way the club conducts it's transfer activities with particular scrutiny given to the club's propensity for making 'low ball' offers that do not have a chance of being accepted and only go on to insult the selling club.

Low ball offers used to work quite well in the past, but that was in the past and not the present, much like when Sam Allardyce first went down the sports science route, initially it worked wonders, but he did not move with the times and as a result his 'cutting edge' concept became outdated due to lack of 'fluidity' in it's implementation, essentially Big Sam went from forward thinking innovator to dinosaur within a decade.

Hammers lack of funds is well known, as is the club's need for an out and out striker, but there is some 'wiggle room', Chelsea are keen to offload Tammy Abraham, his position at Chelsea is now being described by those close to the 23 year old England International as toxic.

For some reason Chelsea's manager Thomas Tuchel really doesn't get on with Tammy, there are suggestions that Tammy's girlfriend made her feelings known to Tuchel at a club event which further distanced the two, apparently omitting Abraham from not just the FA Cup final but the Champions League final was the straw that broke the camel's back!

Chelsea have now reduced their asking price for Tammy from £40 Million to a slightly more reasonable £35 Million, Hammers are rumoured to have offered £30 Million, so there is still work to be done. In addition of attempting to lure Tammy Abraham to the London Stadium, Hammers are actively pursuing a deal for Matheus Perreira from West Brom, again the deal is being held up by the selling club's player valuation, however these difficulties are not insurmountable and 'complications' are bound to rear their ugly head in deals involving the substantial funds that wil be associated with both transfers.

Bit by bit things are falling into place, it's just a pity that the acquisitions could not be made earlier, but this is one of the draw backs of having comparatively 'wealthy' owners who are asset rich, but cash poor. The end result is the club is nearly bottom of the financial food chain, and as such have to wait until the 'bigger' fish have finished their 'hunting' first! - Ed

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Areola In Goala-Irons 1st Proper Signing

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Submitted by nevillenixon on Thu, 29/07/2021 - 20:29

West Ham have completed the loan signing of outstanding 28 year old goal keeper Alphonse Areola from Paris Saint-Germain. The France international joins the Irons on an initial season-long deal, with the option to make the transfer permanent in the summer of 2022. Areola has made more than 250 career appearances for PSG and Real Madrid, winning four Ligue 1 and La Liga titles.

Hammers fans will be well versed with Areola's exploits from during the time he spent on loan last season with Fulham, where he won the club’s Player of the Year award. On the two occasions he faced West Ham he put in resolute performances, only being let down by the porous defence he had in front of him.

Although fans are rightly concerned about the club's need to sign a much needed striker, the arrival of Areola is a refreshing upgrade from some of the club's previous signings and hopefully represents a new direction in player acquisitions. Hammers performances last season were noticed far and wide, ultimately leading to the club being viewed as a much more desirable destination than it had been in the past, with the presence of David Moyes galvanising positive opinions about the future.

Arerola's arrival obviously kicks the Johnstone from West Brom speculation into touch, the terms were favourable as well, as West Ham seek to spread their meagre budget as widely as is possible. Being a loan deal does save money initially and gives the player and club a season to get to know each other, but it does mean there is only room for one other loan player.

Now Areola has arrived, it is easier to assess the Lukasz Fabianski in goal situation with more clarity, 'Fab' has been a great servant to the club, but at approaching 37 years of age probably only has one more season in the top flight left in the tank at the most. Eagle eyed fans will have spotted Fabianski's reticence to kick the ball, favouring long throws now, this must surely be as a result of the thigh injury he sustained last season in addition to the one he sustained the season before.

The point is Fab isn't getting any younger and his fitness is of an increasing concern, his current back up, Darren Randolph, has his own injury problems and is no spring chicken at 34 years old. Nathan Trott has been sent out on a season's loan, ironically to a French club, in order to gain first team experience, on his return he will probably become the number two keeper with both Fabianski and Randolph being moved on, or in Fab's case probably retire.

The late and great Brian Clough always said that you need to build a team from the back, starting with the best keeper you can afford, well it may be a loan to buy deal, but we think it is a damn good start and IF the next new singing(s) are of the same calibre, we will be happy! - EdAreola In Goala-Irons 1st Proper Signing

West Ham United have completed the loan signing of outstanding 28 year old goal keeper Alphonse Areola from Paris Saint-Germain. The France international joins the Irons on an initial season-long deal, with the option to make the transfer permanent in the summer of 2022. Areola has made more than 250 career appearances for PSG and Real Madrid, winning four Ligue 1 and La Liga titles.
Hammers fans will be well versed with Areola's exploits from during the time he spent on loan last season with Fulham, where he won the club’s Player of the Year award. On the two occasions he faced West Ham he put in resolute performances, only being let down by the porous defence he had in front of him.

Although fans are rightly concerned about the club's need to sign a much needed striker, the arrival of Areola is a refreshing upgrade from some of the club's previous signings and hopefully represents a new direction in player acquisitions. Hammers performances last season were noticed far and wide, ultimately leading to the club being viewed as a much more desirable destination than it had been in the past, with the presence of David Moyes galvanising positive opinions about the future.

Arerola's arrival obviously kicks the Johnstone from West Brom speculation into touch, the terms were favourable as well, as West Ham seek to spread their meagre budget as widely as is possible. Being a loan deal does save money initially and gives the player and club a season to get to know each other, but it does mean there is only room for one other loan player.

Now Areola has arrived, it is easier to assess the Lukasz Fabianski in goal situation with more clarity, 'Fab' has been a great servant to the club, but at 37 years old probably only has one more season in the top flight left in the tank at the most. Eagle eyed fans will have spotted Fabianski's reticence to kick the ball, favouring long throws now, this must surely be as a result of the thigh injury he sustained last season in addition to the one he sustained the season before.

The point is Fab isn't getting any younger and his fitness is of an increasing concern, his current back up, Darren Randolph, has his own injury problems and is no spring chicken at 34 years old. Nathan Trott has been sent out on a season's loan, ironically to a French club, in order to gain first team experience, on his return he will probably become the number two keeper with both Fabianski and Randolph being moved on, or in Fab's case probably retire.

The late and great Brian Clough always said that you need to build a team from the back, starting with the best keeper you can afford, well it may be a loan to buy deal, but we think it is a damn good start and IF the next new singing(s) are of the same calibre, we will be happy! - Ed

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Have Faith In Moyes-He's Only Signed One Dud!

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Submitted by nevillenixon on Thu, 29/07/2021 - 08:38

Jordan Hugill..... On the 31st of January 2018, Hugill completed a deadline day move to West Ham United in a reported £10 million transfer deal, becoming manager David Moyes' second signing at the London Stadium after Robert Snodgrass. However he was restricted to a handful of brief cameos in the second half of the 2017–18 season, playing just 22 minutes in total!

'Snoddy' went on to become a fans' favourite, but even he was sent out on loan to Aston Villa having played just 15 games for West Ham without scoring, Snodgrass spent most of the 2017–18 season on loan at Villa, after which he returned to West Ham. The likeable and popular Scot put in some memorable performances before he left the club to join West Bromwich Albion on the 8th of January this year having fallen down the pecking order at the London Stadium.
Jarrod Bowen, Tomas Soucek, Vladimir Coufal, Craig Dawson and Said Benrahma have all been astute signings, Moyes is known for his due diligence relating to player transfers, a facet engrained in his D & A from years of keeping Everton afloat when they had absolutely NO money.

Moyes has been getting a lot of lack from some West Ham fans who’ve suggested that he is too slow to act in the market, but a quick glance at just a few of the 'inglorious failures' that have been signed in the past makes salient viewing, the list is endless, including the FORTY NINE strikers signed during the Gold/Sullivan/Brady era.

As we have mentioned before, a double deal for West Brom duo Sam Johnstone and Matheus Pereira is most definitely in the offing and would be a great response to those critics. The deal has potential due to the fact that West Ham are still owed a sizeable chunk of the £18 Million they relieved the Baggies of from the sale of Grady Diangana at the beginning of last season.
If you examine the figures closely, you will note Hammers are owed exactly the same amount of money by the Baggies as their most recently increased bid for Sam Johnstone. The £12 Million figure is NOT a coincidence is it? West Brom have also indicated that they will do a loan to buy deal for Matheus Perreira, with a £2 Million loan fee followed by an additional £18 Million, does that figure sound familiar as well?

Essentially, this type of deal will be prevalent in the short term until club's finances begin to recover from the Covid pandemic. Johnstone and Perreira represent two pieces of the transfer jigsaw that David Moyes is trying to put together, under duress. Two or three more and the situation will not look as gloomy as it has done in the last couple of weeks.

West Ham may be broke financially, with a massively unpopular board in charge, but the club still receives more column inches of press and media coverage pro rata than any other club from the top five of the Barclays Premier League, some would say even higher! So, is no news good news? We'll find out soon! - Ed

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who is telling porkies?

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Submitted by mcbikeman on Tue, 27/07/2021 - 20:26

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Times journalist Henry Winter and Daily Mail journalist Mike Keegan have both published a statement reported to be from Philip Beard who was linked to a Wets Ham takeover attempt in February.

Winter says “Philip Beard of Pai Capital on his consortium’s bid for West Ham…says “David Sullivan was provided with a proof of funds” and consortium remains “committed to pursuing opportunities to purchase the club”. Keegan adds “Response from Philip Beard and the consortium trying to buy West Ham to David Sullivan’s odd statement after Daily Mail story last week that a bid had been turned down from the club. Say proof of funds was provided and asking price was met.”

The statement alleged to originate from Philip Beard reads “It is not my intention to engage in a public debate on the comments made by David Sullivan last week, but upon advice, it is necessary to correct unhelpful and inaccurate statements.

The current owners of West Ham United made a controversial commercial decision to move the club from its historic home at Upton Park to the London Stadium in Stratford. In my assessment, ad that of the consortium that I represent, that is move is not fulfiling the needs of the club, its loyal fanbase or the local community. There is a lot that can and should b done to improve the experience for all fans and visitors to the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. There is also a duty which we all share to the British taxpayer and to our Olympic legacy as Londerers – and ours is a London-based consortium.

In response to the David Sullivan comments about the nature and value of the bid put forward by the consortium, I can confirm that a formal bid was made which in fact the figure David Sullivan had initially asked for. Our City lawyers were instructed and David Sullivan was provided with a proof of funds.

We remain committed to pursuing opportunities to purchase the club, the London Stadium, and its place within the Olympic Park as a whole. It is backed by prominent personalities in sport, as well as West Ham legends who love the club and want to play a role in its development. We wholeheartedly welcome their support and hope that we will, together have the oppotunity to deliver the project that we have planned.

This is a once in a lifetime oppotunity to build West Ham United into a Londerers’ club of global importance, as a key part of the broader legacy being delivered at Queen Elizabeth park. The fans of London deserve this.

Philip Beard

Partner

Pai Capital”

Shall we have a poll Nev!

yeah i copied and pasted it from that frightfull site so real West Ham fans can read and ponder.

Realistic Targets Begin To Emerge

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Submitted by nevillenixon on Tue, 27/07/2021 - 18:19

As we discussed in yesterday's It's All Falling Into Place-Hammers Signings Update. West Ham are only a few players short of having a decent, if still painfully thin squad, one that will need to be padded out with a mixture of youth players and loanees in order for David Moyes to perform his 'loaves and fishes' magic with his woefully inadequate transfer kitty.

Real progress IS being made behind the scenes, the potential signings available and within budget are limited, but the fiscal fall out due to the Covid pandemic has reached so far and wide, that a combination of players with exciting potential and those who are already established are available.

IF Abdullah Sima and Matheus Pereira are signed, and we admit that is a rather large IF, then their arrival could be backed up by a couple of incredibly good value loan signings. The need for large scale reinforcements was made abundantly clear with the injury to Angelo Ogbonna after only 5 minutes in the friendly against Celtic.

The mighty FC Barcelona are currently experiencing the perfect storm financially, their plight makes West Ham's look relatively insignificant, despite the huge value of their squad, on paper! However if you factor in their wage commitments and player amortisation, they are in dreadful peril of going under! Lionel Messi's club HAVE to sell, loan out or release a whole raft of players just to be able to tread water.

So it comes as no surprise that West Ham have made an approach for Barcelona's 26 year old centre back Clement Lenglet. According to 'respected' Spanish news outlet Sport, Lenglet, who earned his 13th international cap at Euro 2020 earlier this summer playing for France, is the subject of huge interest from Premier League clubs West Ham and Everton, with talk being of a loan deal with a commitment to buy.

Paradoxically, PSG are on the flip side of poverty, but still have to cope with squad restraints that even they cannot cheat their way out of! So in order to comply with the regulations they are willing to negotiate the exit of their 3rd choice goal keeper Alphonse Areola. The French club would prefer a straight transfer as opposed to a loan deal, but West Ham are pushing for a loan to buy deal.

If these two players can be enticed to the London Stadium in addition to Abdullah Sima and Matheus Pereira, then the first team just needs to add another left back and central midfielder to at least resemble a team capable of taking on the Barclays Premier League for the new season.

Unfortunately that will be that, because without serious further investment in the squad, IN ADDITION to that we have already mentioned, any hopes of progressing past the group stages of the Europa League will be over before they have a chance to begin.

It should be remembered that the winners of the competition qualify for the Champions League and that realistically Hammers will NOT be able to mount a top four challenge next season, in fact some are saying just surviving in the Barclays Premier League with the current lack of investment in the squad would be an achievement in itself! - Ed

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So What happened To Moyes' Young And Keen?

Submitted by Louis Nixon on Tue, 27/07/2021 - 12:47

Perhaps it is the grim reality of how little there is in the Hammers transfer kitty that some of David Moyes' recently purported transfer targets do NOT fit into his young, fit, hungry and lean player template. Interest in 28 year old perennially injured Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain along with 30 year old Jens Stryger Larsen, who has been strongly linked with a move to the London Stadium from Udinese, will hardly inspire fans in the run up to the new season.

The negativity surrounding transfer issues being further compounded by reported other interest in 29 year old injury prone Phil Jones on a free transfer from Manchester United, there is also interest in ex Middlesbrough failure Martin Braithwaite!

On the plus side, the youth players continue to impress, but throwing them in at the deep end could have catastrophic short and long term consequences. The need for an additional centre back has now become even more acute, having foolishly let Faban Balbiuena run down his contract and depart the club, David Moyes now finds himself with only Craig Dawson and Issa Diop as fit first team players.

The club are anxiously awaiting the results of a scan undergone by Angelo Ogbonna, the prospects of which aren't encouraging, in addition reserve centre back Winston Reid picked up a knee injury in New Zealand’s 3-2 loss to Honduras at the Olympics and is likely to miss the rest of the tournament before returning to the London Stadium, injured yet again!

It's hard to be positive at this moment in time, it appears Hammers credit cards are all 'maxed out' and they can barely afford their minimum payments, this is going to be a hard season full of what might have beens. - Ed

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It's All Falling Into Place-Hammers Signings Update!

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Submitted by nevillenixon on Mon, 26/07/2021 - 16:59


Fans relentless viewing of media snippets regarding player acquisitions will become more acute as the impending opening fixtures of the Barclays Premier League loom large. West Ham, along with several other top six clubs, appear to have done next to nothing about signing players and the 'natives' are understandably getting restless!

Well, there appears to be a little bit of light glimmering at the end of the tunnel for fans' hopes, in fact a couple of glimmers. Having apparently gone cold on their interest in Slavia Prague''s Abdallah Sima, Hammers negotiating team have re-opened negotiations with the club that they have already established a good working relationship with. David Moyes is believed to have 'pushed the button' as a result of Chelsea's intransigent valuation of his prime striker target Tammy Abraham.

Abdallah Sima missed Slavia Prague’s clash with FC Fastav Zlin amid claims that West Ham are about to table a bid, the Irons had initially been put off by Slavia's sky high valuation, a figure reached possibly as a result of the club seeing just how well and what 'extremely good value' both Tomas Soucek and Vladimir Coufal have been since their move to the Barclays Premier League,

Slavia probably felt they had under valued their players and as a consequence hyper inflated Sima's price tag, it is their right to place whatever value they wish on their players, however if they do need to sell, but were hoping to pump up the value, their plan has back fired.They assumed there would be interest throughout Europe for an attacker who can play in a variety of positions up front and is capable of playing as a central striker, as well as both a right and a left winger.

Slavia have just signed Ivan Schranz from FK Jablonec on a three year deal, they do not have the luxury of being able to afford a surfeit of forwards, if you thought the Covid pandemic had made clubs catch a cold domestically, then looking at the fall out in Europe you would have to say clubs in the East and in France are having a bout of pneumonia threatening to lead to pleurisy!

Slavia’s president Jaroslav Tvrdik has confirmed that Sima could leave this summer and has made the claim that Hammers remain keen on striking a deal before the transfer window closes, he is quoted as saying "With the arrival of Ivan Schranz we have acquired an attacking player who can play four positions in our system."

When questioned further regarding a possible deal to take Sima to the London Stadium, Tvrdik became slightly recalcitrant, he did however say it would be 'nice' if Sima could link up with his former team mates, "they would make him feel welcome, which is very important if you are switching Leagues and continents".

Of course as this transfer involves money 'empty bags' West Ham, there is a problem which is a stumbling block, but one that it is hoped can be overcome, namely the structure of the deal. Unsurprisingly Hammers want to take Sima on loan for a fee, with an option to buy. Slavia on the other hand, would obviously prefer to negotiate a permanent transfer, however given the good relationship between the clubs, if anyone can, West Ham can!

We have also just heard encouraging news with regards to the opening of negotiations for Matheus Pereira from West Brom, what gives this story legs is the fact that the cash strapped Baggies still owe West Ham a fair chunk of change from the Grady Diangana sale, this deal could work out well for all parties, the stumbling block on this one will be West Bom's valuation of Matheus Pereira, they will bear in mind the 'top dollar' they paid for Diangana.

Hopefully these deals will be in place ahead of the Betway Cup fixture against Altalanta that precedes the beginning of the season, but the nature of the transfer window is such that deals transacted by 'smaller' clubs tend to be done after the bigger clubs have completed their business, thus freeing up players for the final day transfer merry go round, it's enough to turn you to drink isn't? - Ed

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