With the focus rightly on Angleterre what's everyone's thoughts on other nations up and coming or established stars?
For me Mbappe for France has been great as has Cavani for Uruguay. 2 players that would cause serious issues for us should we make it to the final. Along with Brazil v Belgium, the France v Uraguay are quarterfinal games I'm looking forward to.
As we reported back on the 6th of June, Jack Wilshere's move away from Arsenal to West Ham United has been sanctioned by Manuel Pellegrini, and now that head of recruitment Mario Husillos has rubber stamped the deal there is just a bit of toing and froing connected to performance related payments to iron out. The 'Andy Carroll experience', coupled with the Kieron Dyer 'sickness show' that preceeded it, has cast a long shadow over a club with relatively limited resources such as West Ham, so there are many who would say signing the injury prone Wilshere is a terrible risk and one that the club cannot afford. Indeed Wilshere's injury record is poor, however he played 40 games for Arsenal in all competitions last season and nearly as many when he was on loan to Bournemouth during the previous season, so hopefully his injury issues are a thing of the past.
In addition to Jack Wilshere the chances are Inter Milan's Antonio Candreva will be donning a different jersey next season and West Ham have emerged as the leading candidates to acquire the midfielder as Manuel Pellegrini looks to boost the squad that just managed to achieve a 13th place finish in the Barclays Premier League, conceding the league's worst 68 goals in the process. Hammers have a good relationship with Inter and have established the sort of mutual trust essential when it comes to the sort of transfers that these days are huge compared to the past. As we reported recently head of recruitment Mario Husillos has already made contact with Inter regarding the potential signing on loan for a further year of João Mário.
West Ham are a distant 40/1 at William Hill and other sportsbooks reviewed here to finish in the top four, and will need Candreva, Wilshere and likely at least a couple more upgrades in order to get anywhere near their first ever Champions League spot. Four of the club's first six matches are against Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea, and Everton, Hammers will find themselves out of the race early if they don't find a way to generate more chances and assists for the strikers up top, who ever they may eventually be.
Would Hammer's be seeking a deal for Jack Wilshere if Manuel Lanzini hadn't picked up a potentially season ending injury? highly unlikely, but given the recovery time for Lanzini's injury even with the most optomistic prognosis is at least six months the need for an attacking creative midfielder is paramount. Like for like Wilshere is very similar to Lanzini and despite the injury risk is definitely worth a punt even if it means commiting the club to a possible outlay of £15 Million in wages over a three year contract, with no transfer fee being paid it could represent a great bit of business and as the media have reminded us relentlessly he comes from a West Ham supporting family with club connections and supported the club as a youngster himself.
When he arrived at the London Stadium Manuel Pellegrini stated that he wanted to bring in 'four or five' players, well he has already brought in Ryan Fredericks, Lukcas Fabianski and Isso Diop, however one feels he was actually referring to bringing in 'four or five' first team players. Doing the Maths, and even footballers are quite good at that especially when it comes to calculating their wages, it would seem that one of or all of the following players will be looking over their shoulders!
We will keep you posted for when the deal is actually signed for one or both of Candreva Or Wilshere. - Ed
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As we reported back on the 6th of June, Jack Wilshere's move away from Arsenal to West Ham United has been sanctioned by Manuel Pellegrini, and now that head of recruitment Mario Husillos has rubber stamped the deal there is just a bit of toing and froing connected to performance related payments to iron out. The 'Andy Carroll experience', coupled with the Kieron Dyer 'sickness show' that preceeded it, has cast a long shadow over a club with relatively limited resources such as West Ham, so there are many who would say signing the injury prone Wilshere is a terrible risk and one that the club cannot afford. Indeed Wilshere's injury record is poor, however he played 40 games for Arsenal in all competitions last season and nearly as many when he was on loan to Bournemouth during the previous season, so hopefully his injury issues are a thing of the past.
In addition to Jack Wilshere the chances are Inter Milan's Antonio Candreva will be donning a different jersey next season and West Ham have emerged as the leading candidates to acquire the midfielder as Manuel Pellegrini looks to boost the squad that just managed to achieve a 13th place finish in the Barclays Premier League, conceding the league's worst 68 goals in the process. Hammers have a good relationship with Inter and have established the sort of mutual trust essential when it comes to the sort of transfers that these days are huge compared to the past. As we reported recently head of recruitment Mario Husillos has already made contact with Inter regarding the potential signing on loan for a further year of João Mário.
West Ham are a distant 40/1 at William Hill and other sportsbooks reviewed here to finish in the top four, and will need Candreva, Wilshere and likely at least a couple more upgrades in order to get anywhere near their first ever Champions League spot. Four of the club's first six matches are against Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea, and Everton, Hammers will find themselves out of the race early if they don't find a way to generate more chances and assists for the strikers up top, who ever they may eventually be.
Would Hammer's be seeking a deal for Jack Wilshere if Manuel Lanzini hadn't picked up a potentially season ending injury? highly unlikely, but given the recovery time for Lanzini's injury even with the most optomistic prognosis is at least six months the need for an attacking creative midfielder is paramount. Like for like Wilshere is very similar to Lanzini and despite the injury risk is definitely worth a punt even if it means commiting the club to a possible outlay of £15 Million in wages over a three year contract, with no transfer fee being paid it could represent a great bit of business and as the media have reminded us relentlessly he comes from a West Ham supporting family with club connections and supported the club as a youngster himself.
When he arrived at the London Stadium Manuel Pellegrini stated that he wanted to bring in 'four or five' players, well he has already brought in Ryan Fredericks, Lukasz Fabianski and Isso Diop, however one feels he was actually referring to bringing in 'four or five' first team players. Doing the Maths, and even footballers are quite good at that especially when it comes to calculating their wages, it would seem that one of or all of the following players will be looking over their shoulders!
We will keep you posted for when the deal is actually signed for one or both of Candreva Or Wilshere. - Ed
New Hammers' head of player recruitment Mario Husillos had several key issues to address on taking over at The London Stadium, namely to sort out the Felipe Anderson saga which seems to have dragged on since the beginning of time and to fill the deep hole left by Manuel Lanzini's long term injury sustained while training with The Argentine national side. To that purpose our Italy correspondant has confirmed that Husillos has made contact with Inter MIlan with regards to re-loaning João Mário, this time for the entire 2018/9 season for which West Ham would pay an €8 Million fee and pay all of Mário's wages and image rights, whether there would be an option to make the deal permanent is unknown as yet, however these deals do usually have such a facility.
Mário is a known quantity and as such does not represent the sort of risk associated when bringing a player from abroad who has not experienced the unique hussle and bustle of the Barclays Premiership, he has an affinity with the Hammers faithful and the deal repesents good value for all parties involved. Inter would invariably want a sell on clause to be added to any final settlement amount bearing in mind they originally paid around €40 Million for the Portugese international. The announcement confirming João Mário's arrival may be delayed until he has returned from a short holiday following his country's elimination from the FIFA 2018 World Cup in Russia.
The Felipe Anderson situation is more complex than that of João Mário and needs to be resolved quickly, the indecision surrounding the proposed move will have a negative effect on West Ham United's standing, especially those clubs who are contemplating doing business but may be put off by what they see as an organisation that only 'low balls' deals! Hopefully the appoinment of Husillos will show the club in a new light and draw a line in the sand from past 'less than successful' transfer windows. If Husillos is left to his own devices there is no reason why fans shouldn't dream about being in the top half of the table instead of being involved in another relegation battle, starting with the first match away to Liverpool at Anfield. If you're looking at betting on the Premier League next season then it's definitely worth taking a look at Footy Accumulators, they offer tips and previews ahead of all of the leagues biggest games.
The meddler of all meddlers that is David Sullivan, co-owner and majority share holder of West Ham United, has apparently decided to concentrate his not inconsiderable energy on sorting out the huge mess that is The London Stadium, The Souless Dome, The Great White Elephant or The Toxic Drome. Call it what you will, but the fall out and costs perceived incorrectly to be West Ham United's fault need to be sorted out urgently, otherwise the continued negativity will prevent and negate any 'feel good' factor that has been generated by the arrival of Manuel Pellegrini, who some would say is the first 'proper' manager the club has had for ages.
Fans straining to hear 'snippets' about potential arrivals will probably have to get used to the 'Husillos' way, which is about as juxtaposed to the 'Sullivan' way as is humanly possible! - Ed
after reading this article you have to wonder
In the past and some would say probably in the future, West Ham United transfer activity has been played out in the media with a distinct 'groundhog' day feel to it and all it's surrounding shenanigans. Smoke and mirrors have provided the back drop to the 'could have, should have and would have' declarations about potential targets with 'apparent' interest in just about every top player there is, only for the club to 'pipped at the post' by a club offering realistic terms instead of bargain basement insult deals.
The arrival of Mario Husillos, or Armando Mario Husillos Herrero to give him his full name, is supposed to herald a new era in player recruitment as Hammers' look to revamp the entire system that was in place during Tony Henry's ill fated tenure that ended so acrimoniously with his "I don't want to sign anymore African players because they sulk when not selected" sound bite. One of the Huse's first tasks will be to put the Felipe Anderson deal to bed one way or the other, time spent procrastinating on a deal that is going nowhere is a coplete waste of time, better just to move on to a more realistic target and a club that actually want or need to do business.
Prospective selling clubs know only too well the David Sullivan 'low ball' approach to transfers, meaning that they will quote well over the odds for players knowing that incoming bids from West Ham will have the 'Sullivan' touch about them. If and when clubs realise that they are dealing with a man of repute, as is the case with Mario Husillos, then perhaps the playing field will be levelled to the point where the club and it's supporters are not embarrased by ridiculous offers being made public, usually by a spotty kid!
The early signs look quite promising with the Hammers' hierarchy seemingly taking a back seat from the public eye, a situation helped greatly by the World Cup occupying most of the daily column inches, Husillos is much more about informing interested parties once a deal has actually been done, it is the way most clubs operate and hopefully the penny will have finally dropped and those who need to will keep out of delicate situations until they are resolved, and that includes bad mouthng players still on the club's books!
Next week will see substantial movement in the transfer market by West Ham, it is after allthe first week when many players are available as they either enter in to their final year or are available on a free transfer as their contracts will have now ended. There will be several outgoings, possibly before any more players come in, the usual suspects names keep emerging but it is Manuel Pellegrini and Mario Husillos who will be pulling the strings, or at least that is what they are supposed to do, the next week will be absorbing and perhaps the 'gagging order' might hold firm, West Ham fans can but hope! - Ed
Well it would seem that goal at Leicester by noble has encouraged other players to try emulate and succeed in doing the noble volley,maybe not as catchy as "cruyff turn" but wowza they all clearly follow our world class midfielder so well done Mark for encouraging ordinary players to your level:-)
West Ham United are interested in signing Sporting Lisbon midfielder Bruno Fernandes, according to reputable fansite Knees Up Mother Brown.
What’s the story?
The 23-year-old midfielder only joined Sporting last summer from Sampdoria and went on to make 33 appearances for the Portuguese outfit, scoring an impressive 11 goals and registering eight assists.
But now, according to the report, Fernandes is one of many players who wants to force their way out of the club, after they were attacked by supporters following their failure to qualify for the Champions League.
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A number of players have reportedly terminated their contracts, including Fernandes, so he could be available on a free transfer this summer.
According to Knees Up Mother Brown, West Ham are understandably interested in the Portugal international and co-owner David Sullivan is investigating the possibility of signing the player.
Sporting Lisbon midfielder Bruno Fernandes dribbling the ball
A real coup for the Hammers
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There is no doubt that if West Ham can pull this off, it would be a fantastic signing for the club.
Fernandes is valued at £27million on Transfermarkt for good reason, as he is a complete central midfielder with an eye for goal and good composure on the ball and positional awareness.
There will surely be fierce competition for his signature, with Chelsea and Liverpool rumoured to be interested in the talent.
If West Ham manage to convince Bruno Fernandes to head to the London Stadium, it will be a massive win for new manager Manuel Pellegrini who will have one of Europe’s top young midfielders in his team.
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