Forum | General Discussion

West Ham United have officially confirmed the departures of Andy Carroll, Adrian San Miguel and Samir Nasri, they join midfielders Moses Makasi and Noha Sylvestre and defenders Vashon Neufville and Josh Pask who will also depart, as will scholars Mason Barrett, Kevin Dalipi, Jay Mingi and Odysseas Spyridis.

Many fans will breathe a sigh of relief that the club have not exercised their option to extend Andy Carroll's contract, perhaps he will go on to greater things and suddenly become fit as a butcher's dog firing goals in from all over the Park, then again he could continue as he left off, albeit on vastly reduced money, by getting injured either during pre-season or just before the season starts.

With Carroll it was always what might have been, whereas with Adrian the case is slightly different, what he lacked in ability he made up with passion and many, many fans will be sorry to see him go. Adrian deserves first team football, but realistically was never going to play instead of Lukas Fabianski who made the position his own with his Hammer of the year performances.

Nasri was an interesting experiment, he probably would have been retained as the club had the option, but the shadows of Andy Carroll's and more recently Jack Wilshere's persistent injury struggles put paid to that. It seems that the club have finally realised that all that glisters is not gold! Great things were expected from Moses Makasi, Vashon Neufville and Josh Pask as well as Noha Sylvestre and scholars Mason Barrett, Kevin Dalipi, Jay Mingi and Odysseas Spyridis. Unfortunately they didn't make the grade, this can be viewed in two ways, either the quality of the youth programme is really poor, or that levels of expectation have gone through the roof since the arrival of Manuel Pellegrini and head of recruitment Mario Hussilos.

Having 'cut loose' half a dozen players it will be interesting to see who they are replaced by, they surely would not have been released had better options not existed. - Ed

Perhaps a little more attention to impending rule changes might help fans understand West Ham United's transfer activity, or the lack of it. Manuel Pellegrini has told Sky Sports he has a dilemma over satisfying the homegrown player quota which could shape his transfer plans. “You must be calm and try to choose your best option because if you make a mistake in the squad in this season you are going to pay in the whole year,” Pellegrini told Sky Sports.“You can have just 17 foreign players, we must have eight English players, we will see which of them can go, which options we have to come.”

Homegrown player rule explained
To be ‘homegrown’ a player must be registered with an English team for three years before the age of 21. Hammers fans will be hoping that doesn’t mean the likes of Sam Byram and Jordan Hugill are kept on just for the sake of hitting the homegrown player quota. One player who does fill one of those spaces is Andy Carroll and he looks set to leave. Another is Aaron Cresswell who is also reportedly being considered for sale. If Cresswell is sold then West Ham are left with just seven players fitting the homegrown criteria.

So future player purchases will be affected sooner rather than later, realistically it should be noted there has been little talk from either Manuel Pellegrini nor Mario Husillos about the potential signing of either Maxi Gomez from Celta Vigo or Andre Gomes from Barcelona. One outcome that is guaranteed is that there is no way both of the players could conceivably arrive at the London Stadium, the reported meagre £30 Million net kitty cannot stretch to that, even if you include some very clever accounting like most of the 'top' clubs do.

West Ham United have also reportedly had a bid for Lorient attacker Alexis Claude-Maurice turned down, it is unlikely Hammers will return with another offer. Until Pellegrini and Husillos can offload a whole heap of inherited dross, the signing of players like Maxi Gomez are for now just a pipe dream, paradoxically a wholesale clear out might be a breath of fresh, air but it might also leave the club's squad dangerously exposed to a potential crisis if players pick up injuries on a par with the season that has just finished. - Ed

Danny Welbeck is leaving Arsenal at the end of the season when his contract expires and is available on a free transfer in a matter of days, the England striker has endured 'Carroll/Wilshere'sque luck with injuries during his time in north London, and Arsenal have now decided to cut their losses and let him go.

Of course because Wellbeck is available without a transfer fee, back in the day he would have been a prime candidate for the West Ham United 'retirement' home. However having had their fingers severely burnt by the signing of Andy Carroll, and then compounded the situation by signing Jack Wilshere, it is highly unlikely the club will want to risk taking on yet another injury prone player.

Despite being only 28 years old, Wellbeck has had less game time than Carroll! Everton are interested in signing the ex-Manchester United hitman, who, on his day is unplayable, the problem is those days are so and far between that there is a chasm between his potential and his practicality, a bit like Carroll and Wilshere.

West Ham United cannot afford to sign any more crocks, and are finally able to get Andy Carroll of their books, so why on earth would they want to replace one injury crisis about to happen with another?

Everton, Crystal Palace, Wolves and Newcastle are the Premier League sides keen on Welbeck, with Italian side Lazio said to be after him too. Players available on free transfers are usually available for a reason, and nine times out of ten the reason is they are either too old, or too injury prone. Hammers need to give players like Wellbeck a wide berth. - Ed

Xherdan Shaqiri was available for a £13.5 Million transfer fee following Stoke City's relegation, however he didn't interest Manuel Pellegrini, he eventually signed for Liverpool where he initially fared well and looked a real bargain, but his waste line went up as his confidence level went down, he ended the season having only scored 6 times with 5 assists to his credit in 30 appearances.

There is a story currently doing the rounds that West Ham United are interested in bringing Shaqiri to the London Stadium, with a figure of £23 Million being mentioned, far too rich for a club that will struggle to finance to equal last season's spending.

If the Hammers manager had wanted to reunite Shaqiri with his former Stoke team mate Marko Arnautovic he would have sanctioned the move, but there were questions about the Swiss player's fitness and whether he could comply with the Pellegrini template.

Xherdan Shaqiri is only 27 years old, but he looks a lot older than Mark Noble! Perhaps when he and Marko Arnautovic first linked up they were rather special, but Arnautovic, despite being the elder of the two, looks a lot leaner and meaner.

Perhaps he represented a bit of a bargain at £13.5 Million, but at near double that fee after a disappointing season Hammers should give him a wide berth. - Ed