Forum | General Discussion

Having by luck or judgement secured one of the best deals the club have made in the transfer market since the signing of Dimitri Payet, West Ham United are looking to add another Czech player to join up with Tomas Soucek who arrived on loan in the January transfer window before his move was made permanent following the club's successful battle against relegation.

According to sources in Prague the Hammers have offered £4 Million for Slavia Prague midfielder Lukas Masopust, the 27 year old has been in fine form for Slavia Prague helping them to win yet another Czech league title, scoring seven goals and with five assists to his name

The £4 Million offered by the Irons as they look to reunite Soucek with a man he knows very well indeed for club and country, seems ludicrously cheap for an established International with Champions League experience, if a deal can be done Masopust would represent superb value, as an added bonus he speaks English well which helps no end when a player arrives from overseas. The fact that he and Soucek are friends as well as colleagues augers well for the future, however at 27 years old he is only just on the cusp of being young and hungry, he is more in the same vein as the 'experienced' player Moyes recently said the club needs to play alongside the youngsters he wants to bring through.
Masopust's wages are easily affordable so this deal could get over the line sooner rather than later, however his arrival as a right sided midfielder might signal the end of Grady Diangana's possible integration in to the first team, and if not Grady, who? David Moyes is keen to retain Diangana, but might be tempted to send him out on loan again in order to keep the youngster happy, most fans cannot see the point in letting another team benefit from Grady's superb abilities, especially if they were a Barclays Premier League team.

Mark Noble has already made it crystal clear that he does not envisage having to play every game next season, which will most likely be his last as a player, so perhaps Moyes sees Masopust as Noble's eventual replacement. Buying in the bargain basement doesn't necessarily mean you get rubbish, clear and concise due diligence can yield hidden nuggets, and at least for a while West Ham United appear to have struck a rich vein in The Czech Republic. - Ed

Without wishing to sound like a broken record, recruitment and departures are guaranteed at the London Stadium as David Moyes looks to 'permanently' reshape West Ham United's bloated, ageing and in most cases over paid squad. The issue is that he has so much deadwood to get rid of that he risks starting a fire, very few players will escape the cull which will have to be limited because there aren't enough clubs out there willing to offer similar deals to the one's they are currently enjoying with West Ham United.

Realistically there are few members of the Hammers squad that are coveted by other teams, and those that are of interest cannot possibly be sold without mass fan discontent. Angelo Ogbonna despite his age, Declan Rice, Jarrod Bowen, Tomas Soucek, Michail Antonio and Lukasz Fabianski are all nailed on certs to be retained, Issa Diop should also be on that list but is an asset the club might look to cash in due to his young age and high resale value as well as being in demand by Tottenham, Arsenal and Manchester United.

The sell to buy route has been complicated by the Covid-19 pandemic and it's financial fall out, yes players can be picked up cheaply, but buying clubs want to get the best deals around as well, consequently players will be less expensive to acquire, but getting the necessary funding through just player sales will be nigh on impossible for all but the 'elite' clubs who have unlimited finances despite FPP rules!

So who is deemed expendable? We'll start with the high earners, Andriy Yarmolenko who is on £115,000 per week, Sebastien Haller £105,000 per week, Jack Wilshere who is on £100,000 per week, Felipe Anderson £95,000 per week, Manuel Lanzini £85,000 per week, Winston Reid £80,000 per week, Ryan Fredericks £75,000 per week, Authur Masuaku £70,000 per week, Aaron Cresswell £70,000 per week and Fabian Balbuena £50,000 per week. All of the players just listed are available for transfer, their wages alone are over £40 Million per year, unfortunately IF, and it is a big IF, clubs can be found to 'take the players on', the transfer fees received would not be significant in themselves.

Pre-pandemic the players we have just listed would have been worth around £350 Million, now they are worth half that amount at best, but if Moyes wants to shape the team in his mould he has to shift a fair few of them, it is about time Hammers ceased to have the 2nd oldest squad in the Barclays Premier League, only dear old Roy Hodgson's Crystal Palace team are older!

Out with the old in with the new, Pellegrini, shame on you! - Ed

Some media outlets have been awash with claims that West Ham are closing in on the capture of Barcelona forward Martin Braithwaite, others have not. It is silly season for transfer rumours, the more outrageous or illogical tend to get the banner headlines and therefore the Irons 'firmed up interest' in Man City reject Braithwaite comes as no surprise.

Martin Braithwaite was a panic purchase in the last transfer window due to injuries to both of Barca's established strikers, he was never going to make the grade and has been put on the for sale list from the Catalonian club that desperately need to offload players due to the financial effects of the covid-19 pandemic despite their champion's league status.

Match day revenue is especially important for Barca, more so than any Barclays Premier League club, they rely on the income generated by the fans who in essence own the club. Mundo Deportivo state that the Irons are in advanced negotiations to sign the 29-year-old for an £18million fee this summer, well they would say that wouldn't they?

In an attempt to 'lure' other clubs in to splashing the cash for Braithwaite, a not so clever agent thought 'I know, West Ham are always mug enough to pay over the odds for a player who is just about to be 30 years old', I'll say they have put in a bid and hey presto! It might have worked once, but the cupboard is proverbially bare at the London Stadium, El Pel even extracted the spare change from the back of the sofas at Theydon Bois!

The only way Braithwaite is joining the Irons is on loan with Barca paying half his salary, which incidentally is rather high, other than that, don't wait with bated breath for his arrival. - Ed