Forum | General Discussion

According to Italian media sources, West Ham United have reportedly offered €13.5million (£11.5 Million) for 25 year old Juventus midfielder Roberto Pereyra. The Argentine creative midfielder managed only 16 appearances in all competitions this season due to injury problems, and as such his signing must be seen as a considerable risk especially bearing in mind the 'Andy Carroll' syndrome which seems to afflict 'marquee' signings made by the club. It’s believed Juve want €17m, as he is under contract until June 2020, but would be prepared to release ‘Tucuman’ for €15m. Of course Hammers have a good understanding with the Serie A champions having signed Angelo Ogbonna, on a four year contract for €11 million, who can forget his injury time match winning header in the 121st minute of the 2–1 home win over Liverpool, in the fourth round FA Cup replay! Juventus will also play West Ham’s first game at the new Olympic Stadium on August the 7th.
There have been strenuous denials that anything is really going to happen with this deal, but some observers see this move as Hammers hedging their bets just in case Real Madrid or one of the other 'big money' clubs put in a ludicrous bid for Dimitri Payet. It would be really difficult for the Hammers hierarchy to turn down the sort of numbers being banded, £60-70 Million would be very hard to walk away from, for a player that cost a little over £11 Million, Payet's face saving wonder goal for France against Cameroon will have probably added to his value further, and more performances on the same level will put him firmly in the shop window, make no mistake, he WILL be a target, and even old red nose himself (alex ferguson) will tell you how hard it is to retain players whose heads are turned by the lure of the big boys, he couldn't stop Beckam or Ronaldo going to Real Madrid even though he was quoted as saying "we will never do business with those gangsters", shortly before Ronaldo's move. Unfortunately every player has his price, football is all about money and how it is used, there is no room for sentiment in today's business orientated game and as such, painful as it is to accept, West Ham fans should prepare them selves for the potential loss of the club's talisman. If he does go, and it is still a big if, it is to be hoped that he goes to P.S.G, Barcelona or Real Madrid and not to another Barclays Premier League club. - Ed

Silly season is about to kick off at the beginning of June when the transfer window opens, however that doesn't stop a raft of spurious rumours surfacing at every opportunity. This leads us to the Michail Antonio to Middlesborough 'distortion' currently doing the rounds, firstly 'Boro are in no way to blame for this 'story', all that has happened is that a 'spokesperson' for the club replied yes when asked if Antonio would be the sort of player they were looking at following their promotion to the Barclays Premier League. Saying you would like a player at your club would be like Slaven Billic saying he wouldn't mind Messi or Neymar rocking up at the Olympic Stadium, it won't happen, but that doesn't mean he wouldn't mind it does it?
Michail Antonio seemed to be an expensive close of window purchase from Nottingham Forest at just under £8 Million, but he has proved to be one of the buys of the season, some pundits and many West Ham fans were of the opinion he should have been with the England squad for the Euro's, but that's another story. Whatever the opinion, Antonio is worth a good deal more than the sort of money Middlesborough were 'rumoured' to be talking about, in the inflated market about to be further fuelled by the massive increase in TV revenue his value would be in the £15-20 Million region.
Hammers will be one of those clubs looking to pick up a good deal from the relegated clubs, one player in particular is Newcastle midfielder Cheick Tiote who Billic is quite keen on, if he did sign can you imagine the confusion for commentators when Cheik Kouyaté passes the ball to Cheick Tiote? - Ed