Forum | Non-Football Related

Without wishing to put the commentator's curse on proceedings, Premier League clubs will be excited by the prospect of signing Ligue 1 players as a result of the continuing impact of the failed TV deal, but will have to act quickly. One player who became available due to 'Frogate' was Stade de Reims’ Boulaye Dia, unfortunately Villarreal CF snapped him up, which has however meant that Luuk de Jong has fallen down the pecking order and has 'expressed an interest' in leaving the Europa League winners.

Although Luuk de Jong could be available for as little as £8 Million and on wages that won't break the bank, the ex-Newcastle loanee is 31 years old in a couple of days time and hardly fits into David Moyes's young and hungry frame. He could be a useful back up to Michail Antonio, when Big Mick has his inevitable Hamstring injury(s).

Alarm bells will probably ring though when examining de Jong's scoring record, the Netherlands International joined Villareal from PSV in 2019, he had scored 112 goals in 204 appearances. However, since the move he has suffered a tragic loss of form, scoring just 19 goals in 94 games, sounds familiar?

The one bright spell for De Jong came when scored the winner in the 2020 Europa League semi-final against Manchester United, and a couple more in the final against Inter Milan as Villareal wonthe trophy. A last minute Christmas Turkey, surely the club can do better, or is it a case of Moyes saying "can't buy, won't buy crap!"?

Such is the financial fall out of the failed ProMedia/Bein TV rights deal, that even Ligue 1 title winners Lille are hovering near bankruptcy, they are over £150 Million in debt and the figure is set to climb much higher. Their coveted left back, Zeki Çelik, is available for what would have been a bargain £14 Million, pre-Covid. Çelik is just one of the many players clubs in France are having to sell just to balance their books, but Hammers needs for a left back, while recognised, are not at the top of David Moyes's transfer list.

The transfer market is going to go ballistic in the next 11 days, as clubs vie for what the 'top' clubs don't want, the need for financial survival in France will definitely create a rush for players from those who wish to buy, and those who have to sell.

The thing is, there is no point in buying overage or ineffective duds, even if they are experienced, surely far better to experiment by trying to utilise the wealth of young talent that is already at the club. The Duds are out there, and as a famous sales pitcher once said "There's a bum for every seat!", it is to be hoped that particular title can go to the aptly named Arsenal who seem to have taken over the 'wasteful' baton from the Irons! - Ed

There have been so many players supposedly on Hammers radar that fans must be feeling like air traffic controllers, as they sieve through endless drivel about targets 'linked' with the club. Interesting expression 'linked', it can be used ubiquitously in order to mask a multitude of nefarious information, it usually preceeds this well known phrase which is taken from the West Ham hierarchy's coat of arms "Habent, habere possent, ut".

Roughly translated it reads: Could have, would have, should have and it just about sums up the club's current transfer activity, the latest in the ridiculuosly long line of players to become unavailable is the highly praised Manuel Locatelli. The Italy midfielder who scored twice for his country on the way to the Euro 2020 final last month, arrived earlier today at the Juventus training ground to complete his medical ahead of a move from Sassuolo..

Locatelli was a long shot, and perhaps would have done what is known at the London Dome as an 'Anderson' upon joining. Having had it's fingers napalmed during Pellergini's reckless profligacy, the club simply cannot afford to take risks with it's miniscule transfer budget, all of which will have to be be generated by loans.

You may ask what about the Haller money? The brutal fact is. that NO money was generated from the forward's sale to Ajax, only the liability to have to pay the next instalments of the player's astonishingly ludicrous £45 Million transfer fee. Even that went wrong, with Hammers risking being banned from European competition by UEFA for rescinding on payments due.

Eventually it was necessary to borrow the money to pay the money that was still owed, so essentially Hammers got absolutely zilch for Le Sulk! Talk of David Moyes having the £25 Million (sic) received must have brought a sardonic smile to the manager's face as he was constantly probed as to what he would do with the 'cash that never was'!

Supporters of other clubs will look at the 'Hammers Experience' and think how drôle to see all the money that was wasted and how crippled the club's finances are now. However their schadenfreude should be tempered by the caveat that it 'could happen to you', and we're not talking about a lottery win, far from it, more the complete reverse.

It only takes one narcissistic owner and one manager hell bent on spending money via his pal, and you have a club on it's knees, forced to accept whatever is placed, where ever and by whoever! -Ed

It is pretty obvious to most fans that Hammers transfer business, if any, is going to be conducted on or around the last day of the transfer window. It really will be a 'last turkey in the shop' situation, except this is the summer window, but the jeopardy remains the same.

Waiting to pick up the scraps from the top table is a 'grounding' experience for fans who expected the club to push on as a result of last season's excellent campaign, one which saw the club finish ahead of Arsenal and that other team in North London.

Many excuses have been 'floated' as to the lack of action in the transfer market, either from within the club or from outside slightly more scurrilous sources. The PAI(n) in the brain bid to oust David Sullivan et tout has played right into the owners hands, they were of the opinion that no one could be more despised than them, however despite their continued loathing of GSB fans know a bit of dodginess when they see it, after all they have had plenty of practise!

Pai(n) have effectively 'shielded' the current owners by exhibiting a complete lack of knowledge when it come to the club, Gold and Sullivan may be pariahs to most Hammers fans, but they look like the chuckle brothers compared to the people behind the PAI(n) bid.

Of course now that the flaws in PAI(n)'s bid have been exposed via various platforms, including the 'shredding' Simon Jordan gave to PAI(n)'s 'Air miles' Phil Beard on Talk Spite yesterday morning, the paucity of Hammers recruitment has again begun to reveal itself like an outgoing tide, the wreckage remains the same, it was just hidden.

The grim reality is that David Moyes is going to have to wait until the closing minutes of the transfer window to see if ANY of his targets are actually attainable. The wait will be a bit like the old Harrods sale days, when people would camp out for days to get a bargain, only to get caught up in the crush as the doors opened and ultimately miss out on the bargain they craved because everyone else wanted to grab a bargain as well.

Waiting until the final day of the sale can be rewarded with amazing snips, but it can also be a path to slashed hopes and despair...so we would suggest it is better to expect little and maybe there will be a 'Moyes Toys' surprise in the offing. - LN

Tottingham or at least their agents, phone tappers included, seem to know an awful lot about Hammers transfer targets. Perhaps the Hierarchy at the London Bowl should organise a security sweep for hidden devices, after all it's not unheard of for a bit of 'sneak listening to be sanctioned by certain parties is it?

Almost every time West Ham express an interest in a player, the conference cup team from North London suddenly show up! No wonder David Moyes has issued a 'D' notice regarding transfers, he must be fed up with being gazumped on a regular basis by Danny Boy and his cronies.

According to Sky Sports, Tottenham are now interested in signing Chelsea defender Kurt Zouma, who’s also of interest to Everton. After missing out on Kurt Zouma and failing with a bid for Nice stopper Nayef Aguerd, Hammers Milenkovic orchestrations felt like a light at the end of the tunnel. However Spuds are now looking to hijack the deal, just as they look to hijack virtually every deal Hammers try to put together, so why?

Well one reason can be discounted, it cannot be West Ham's 'efficient' transfer system can it? It appears that Daniel Levy has never forgiven West Ham for acquiring the London Bowl instead of him, the fact that as a result of the Irons getting the white elephant, he was forced to build his own, albeit a far better one, has constantly wrangled with Chairman Levy.

Now saddled with enormous debt due to his gin palace being empty for the duration of the Pandemic, Levy is hell bent on revenge, and how better way is there than to wreck Hammers chances of new signings? We guarantee Tottingham will 'express an interest' in ANY player David Moyes looks at just to be spiteful, talk about kindergarten!

Levy's actions help neither Hammers fans nor those from North London, and he doesn't look as if he is willing to bury the hatchet ant time soon which doesn't bode well for either group of fans, mind you, it could be worse...you could be an Arsenal fan! Spuds have to begin in their Europa Conference League campaign with a tie against Portuguese side Paços de Ferreira on Thursday, Arsenal aren't even in the two bob cup! - Ed