Forum | General Discussion

Those mischievous little tykes at the Daily Mail do love a good regurgitated story don't they?

Having milked the Declan Rice to Arsenal story within a couple of years of private schooling money banked, the Mail's 'lead' sports journalist couldn't wait to drop his bombshell. After all sitting on an explosive device can be quite disturbing, so 'letting' go of the Manchester City bid for Lucas Pacqueta was necessary to maintain his equilibrium.

Of course using the old journalistic adage of never letting the truth get in the way of a good story there are some 'chronilogical' innacurracies involved, in a similar way as to how they initially reported new signing Edson Alavarez would be receiving £150,000 per week!

Having been forced to revise their figure to a more accurate £100,000 per week the Mail were NOT going to give up the ghost on the 'Pacman' story, almost as if in revenge!

After a tentative start Paqueta, who joined the Irons from Lyon for £36.5 Million last summer, became a fan favourite and was instrumental in the club winning the Europa Conference League.Supposedly City have made an initial approach to West Ham but are yet to make a bid.

It is possible they will test the club's resolve as Pep Guardiola looks to bolster his squad after last season's Treble success and the departures of Ilkay Gundogan and Riyad Mahrez. Guardiola said: "We'll see if we need wingers or inside players." in a throw away comment and it has been hoovered up by the Mail.
Guardiola has long coveted Paqueta and has indeed said he would like to sign him, but that was over a year ago! If Lucas Paqueta WERE to sign for City he would become a small fish in a giant pond, whereas at West Ham he is guaranteed cult status.

Pacman is on a four year deal and while the chance to work with the best manager in the World is obviously appealing, the Brazilain has been around enough to know about the grass being greener syndrome - Ed

On the 15th of April 1912 British passenger liner RMS Titanic, operated by the White Star Line, sank in the North Atlantic Ocean after striking an iceberg during her maiden voyage from Southampton to New York City. The captain, under duress from White Star's money men, continued at full speed in to an area that had already been flagged up as being full of massive Icebergs, he chose to ignore the warnings despite pleas form his senior staff.

Now of course the sinking of the Titanic was a tragedy, the likes of which will hopefully never ever occur again and due to lessons learned from the ill fated voyage future cross Atlantic crossings became markedly safer. So comparing the tragic loss of life involved to a football transfer seems incredibly churlish and insensitive, however as Liverpool's greatest manager Bill Shankly once said “Some people think football is a matter of life and death. I don't like that attitude. I can assure them it is much more serious than that.”

So news that West Ham have just spent an astonishing £30 Million for an out of form 30 year old with absolutely NO sell on value will have fans queueing up to metaphorically jump of high buildings! West Ham United have agreed the deal with Manchester United to sign defender Harry Maguire. Personal terms are yet to be agreed but they are not expected to be an issue as it is understood Maguire is keen to make the move and Manchester United will need to use a large part of the £30 Million fee received to supplement Maguire's wages.

The England centre back who joined Man United in August 2019 for a world record £80m for a defender struggled for first team opportunities at Old Trafford last season and was stripped of the captaincy by Eric Ven Tag. Maguire made 30 appearances for United last season, but only made eight league starts.
Hammers do need an extra centre back due to Kurt Zouma's propensity for picking up injuries and Angelo Ogbonna's advancing years. Make no mistake though, Maguire is 100% a Moyes signing as it appears the under pressure manager has finally got his way DESPITE advice from newly appointed director of football Tim Steidten.

Hopefully, events will prove the majority of fans wrong, but Moyes appears to be doing a 'Harry' with the Declan Rice money which has been burning a hole in his pocket. Paying £30 Million for a player who clearly DID NOT want to be at the club is a portent for disaster, not on the scale of the Titanic, but signing Maguire will put the club back by several years.

The news that Moyes might also get his hands on James Ward Prowse is equally galling given the huge £30 Million fee being potentially paid out for another player who will eventually have little sell on value. So there you have it, Moyes has got his way, will he be there to see his acquisitions shine? Hopefully not, but he will have pissed through over half of the Rice money! - Happy days are here again? - Ed

Sensing they might be able to 'con' West Ham out of ridiculous money for 30 year old Harry Maguire, Manchester United are interested in signing Fiorentina's Sofyan Amrabat with their ill-gotten gains. 26 year old Amrabat would join Mason Mount in bolstering Ten Hag's restructured midfield engine room.

With a price tag of just £24 Million why on earth are West Ham fiddling about? Sofyan Amrabat is a young fit player with energy to burn and would be a massive upgrade on what West Ham already have and an even better proposition than that of Harry Maguire who Moyes is still obsessed with!

Surely Sully has to tell the Moyesasaurus that his era of cart horse signings is over, signing Maguire would be an enormous step backwards that could negatively effect the club for years, he must NOT be allowed to sign Maguire even if it takes locking him away in a dark room for a while!

On the bright side there are positive rumours emerging from 'Goose Green' regarding transfers with several young enthusiastic players being targeted, YES Hammers WILL have to pay over the odds due to the money in the bank available that everyone knows about, but the trick is to compromise NOT to be compromised.

One gets the feeling that Tim Steidten could balance the books and move forwards so much better than Myes IF he is given carte blanche, fans can only hope! - Ed