Forum | General Discussion

Rumours of impending arrivals at West Ham United are rife at the moment given the club's recent Euro Cup success and the fact that there will be a few quid in the Kitty following the inevitable departure of Declan Rice to neighbours Arsenal for a whopping fee.

While there is legitimate interest in UK based players like Harvey Barnes from newly relegated Leicester City and several other Championship players, Hammers will be doing most of their eventual shopping from abroad, with France in particular being the most fertile of areas to but players from.

The reason is quite simply that clubs in France with the exception of PSG and maybe one or two others, are completely brassic. This season the temporary Government assistance they received following the collapse of the BeIn sports broadcasting deal has been withdrawn, meaning clubs don't have a pot to proverbial in!

So rich pickings are available and the 'menu' will have been keenly looked at by Hammers new technical director Tim Steidten who starts officially starts work on Monday but has already got several 'Irons in the fire' (couldn't resist that one!). Steidten's sphere of influence also encompasses Germany which will open a whole new avenue of contacts and players, including the highly sought after Edson Alvarez from Dortmund who would be an ideal Declan Rice replacement.

However it is France where the best deals are to be had where Hammers spending power is sufficient to blow all but the serious big hitters out of the water, there are at least three targets that are known off, quite who will arrive is as yet unknown, but these are exciting times to be a Hammers fan.

Perhaps the club SHOULD HAVE employed Tim Steidten earlier, but where WOULD that have left head of player recruitment Rob Newman?

In fact, with Mark Noble and Tim Steidten involved will Newman jump ship or wait to be pushed? Three is an awkward number to manage where there are realistically only two positions, unless you are French of course! - Ed

As if it wasn't bad enough having Big Mikey Antonio 'bad mouthing' Gianluca Scamacca, now ex-Hammers legend Frank McAvennie is telling anyone who will listen and give him a few quid for his opinion that Lucas Paqueta "would be open to leaving West Ham for Newcastle or Paris Saint-Germain because he doesn’t like David Moyes’ style of football".

Now as we all know, comments made by players past and present can be 'cut and shut' and consequently misconstrued, but Frankie Boy has been round the block enough times to know the consequences of 'loose talk'! Frank is a good lad who has a great affection for the club, he used to love a party and a few drinks and still does, but he has always had a propensity to shoot his mouth off which he is continuing to do, just like he used to when he frequented Stringfellows on a regular basis like he used to do back in the day!

Being a bit of a party animal means a person can often be caught with their guard down as is often the case with Frank, there is a reason that he doesn't do hardly any mainstream media work. BT Sport for example would have him 'nailed on' to complement the 'Two Coles' if they thought he could offer a 'balanced opinion, unfortunately he has to make do with being the 'guest reporter' for click bait websites instead.

It is a pity really, because he DOES have a genuine affection for both West Ham AND Celtic but rarely gets the chance to feature in TV programmes and probably needs to earn a few quid because the wages he received were peanuts compared with today's professionals.

Still rocking the boat when it is not necessary can only harm the club and his own image, so please Frank, think before you speak and avoid media outlets that don't care about your reputation. There is absolutely NO creedance in the Paqueta wants out story, unfortunately it is clearly a case of Et Tu Frankie. Let's hope he understands that his comments are being manipulated and can have repercussions, sooner rather than later, that way he can remain a legend instead of becoming a leg end! - Ed

Yes, Hammers COULD have dealt with the Declan Rice saga better, yes they SHOULD have got the deal done sooner and yes they WOULD have if the club wasn't in 'suspended' animation! Let's look at the latter first, since the sad passing of David Gold any decision by Daniel Kretinsky with regards to a full take over of the club WOULD have been put on hold.

Sadly David Gold's death was followed painfully quickly by that of his daughter Jacqueline, a situation that obviously could not have been predicted. Unfortunately, David Gold died without leaving an official will and as such his assets became intestate meaning that until clarification by a Government appointed notary of law, their destination cannot be confirmed.

Unless there was a pre-dated agreement with third parties Mr Gold's wealth would be distributed to the remaining members of his family, minus any taxes owed to HM Revenue and Customs. Essentially until the matter is dealt with, West Ham United CANNOT be sold off!

Despite some hair brained reports in the media about majority shareholder David Sullivan being a 'control freak' who will never relinquish his holding or control of the club, the fact is that Mr Sullivan is not a young man and privately his life has taken a different direction as a result of his new relationship.

Running a Premier League football club is a demanding and brutal task that has very little discernable reward and the word is that David Sullivan 'cannot wait' to rid himself of most of the burden of running the club, preferring instead to retain a 20% share of the club and selling the remaining shares he currently owns to.....quote "the highest bidder" unquote.

This does NOT mean that the owners of El Hilal will suddenly rock up at the Stadium with no name at anytime soon, but there is a distinct possibility that the 'Krertin in the Sky' will have to fork out considerably more than originally planned if he were to proceed with a full take over of the club.

We'll get to the COULD and the SHOULD in the next article, starting with who the club SHOULD be retaining! Ed

The potential transfer of Declan Rice from West Ham has become something of a media circus that shows no sign of abating and quite frankly it is all getting a bit boring! Many years ago TV viewers did not have a thousand and one channels and box sets to choose from, they only had three!

Lack of choice was accepted by people until realistic alternatives could be acquired, so it is with regards to Dec's transfer. The player will be mightily embarrassed by how the situation is being dealt with by ALL parties concerned and probably cannot wait for a positive resolution, however when money talks loyalty often walks!

We are by no means inferring that Declan Rice is anything but a man of honour, far from it but regrettably when the sums of money involved are so vast there will always be a bit of fiscal skulduggery involved! So don't believe what you see and hear unless it comes directly rather than in a neat 'click bait' format that simply regurgitates the same story again and again.

When we receive some REAL news we will post, until then just enjoy the good weather and laugh out loud at some of the 'insider' information being put forward! - Ed