Forum | Non-Football Related

QPR's Eberechi Eze could arrive at the London Stadium with Jordan Hugill travelling in the opposite direction, Hugill enjoyed a successful season on loan at Loftus Road and a deal looks as if it could happen. QPR will be looking to get top dollar for the very talented Eze, but the current financial climate will make that a difficult proposition, using Hugill as a make weight in the deal will appeal to all parties with Hammers being able to recoup a significant amount of the £10 Million they paid for the striker, it is believed Hugill and another £10 Million would be enough to seal the deal.

The £10 Million outlay for a young and hungry established player is within Hammers strict budgetary constraints, however any other acquisitions will most definitely have to be funded by player sales. Although the high profile signings of Sebastain Haller and Felipe Anderson will be the signings most likely to move on IF suitable funding can be provided by their suitors, but Hammers fans also need to face up to the fact that Grady Diangana is hot property and would be sought after by many clubs, clubs willing to invest in a talent that will only grow in value.

As we mentioned in our previous article, the need for two new full backs is acute, as is firming up the back up for Angelo Ogbonna and Issa Diop, Fabian Balbuena and Winston Reid are both on the books and could 'do a job' especially if they are there purely as back ups. At 32 years old Ogbonna probably only has one more excellent season in the tank, so moving on in time a replacement will eventually have to be found.

Albian Ajeti is another one who is surplus to requirements, there is no way the club will be able to recoup the £8 Million he cost, but he could fetch £5 Million. As it is unlikely that any club would be foolish enough to stump up anywhere near the £45 Million the Irons paid for him, Sebastian Haller will probably be at the London Stadium for another season, perhaps he will come good, although all the signs are that he is definitely NOT a David Moyes type of footballer.

Slim pickings indeed. - Ed

West Ham United's season ended with an insipid performance against an Aston Villa team fighting for their Barclays Premier League survival, in a way it was to be expected given the fact that David Moyes' men were completely safe from relegation heading in to the final game. One unique aspect of project restart was the option of using up to five substitutes, a facility the West Ham manager used sparsely, however having so many players available did put the spotlight on the strength of various team's benches, and West Ham's was eye watering!

Yesterday afternoon's game against Villa saw a Hammers bench that included Sebastian Haller, Felipe Anderson, Andrily Yarmolenko, Manuel Lanzini and Jack Wilshere, the first three having been acquired for a total of over £100 Million. The wages for all five including, Jack Wilshere's obscene £100,000 per week, are in excess of £500,000 per week, that's £25 Million per year!

No team, other than those 'elite' clubs bank rolled by dubious countries seeking some form of respectability, can possibly sustain having over £100 Million of 'talent' on the bench whilst paying them over £25 Million per year in wages, pre Covid -19 those figures are excessive, but now the Pandemic has ripped through football's finances such figures are completely unsustainable.

The transfer window has just opened, but hopes are not high of offloading these 'luxury' players at anywhere near their 'true' value, in the current market West Ham would be doing really well to get HALF of what was paid for these mostly Pellegrini indulgences, the high wages they are on will make them particularly difficult to move on.

Trim,cull,whatever you wish to call it, David Moyes will have to sell before he can buy, the problem is his squad is currently completely imbalanced, and given the severe budget restrictions Moyes may have to just initially concentrate on the two key areas of concern, namely the full back situation. Fortunately for the Irons manager, Ben Johnson, having overcome a series of injuries stepped up to the plate at right back and left back, but the elephant(s) in the room are Ryan Fredericks and Aaron Cresswell, he former has regressed as a player to such an extent that some cannot bare watching his error strewn, rabbit in the headlights, shocking football, he wasn't always as bad as he is now, his confidence is obviously way down, but his decision making is really atrocious and getting worse!

Aaron Cresswell is a different kettle of fish to Fredericks,he has been a loyal servant to the club but doesn't have the physicality to put in the type of performances that he once did, back in the day he would be 'head up and burn' forward down the flanks defender, now he plays sideways or backwards, it is a pity but Cresswell definitely need replacing, but not by Authur Masuaku! 'King Authur' as he was once affectionately known by fans, is NOT a full back, he never was despite being played as one, he is a decent left winger but he neglects his defensive duties or makes too many bad choices with his final ball.

Losing Jeremy Ngakia was a real blow, it means having to dip in to the transfer market to find a right back, good ones are hard to find though. Much of Moyes' recruitment will have to be from the lower leagues and from Club's in trouble, Wigan in particular, if they fail in their appeal against a 12 point deduction they wiil have to sell their best assets at knock down prices, and West Ham will be waiting there to do to the Latics what has been done to the Irons on numerous occasions in the past, especially by that creep Levy!

There is hardly any likelyhood of Haller, Anderson, Lanzini, Wilshere and Yarmolenko all being at the club when the new season starts on September the 12th, the most likely departures will probably be Anderson and Haller, both players have already attracted interest from European clubs Lazio and Monaco, as for the others, there aren't many clubs that can match the 'generous' wages West Ham have dished out in the past, why would they want to move on for less money? - Ed

Ahead of this afternoon's game against Aston Villa on the final day of the Barclays Premier League, Hammers fans will be in the unique position of NOT fearing the outcome. For the first time in this truncated and topsy turvy season, one group of viewers who wear claret and blue will be able to watch the match with absolutely no fear, whereas the other group will go through the Mill, and then some!

Results don't lie, and the reasons Villa, and up until Tuesday's draw at Manchester, West Ham, have been involved in such a relegation scrap lie far earlier in the season. Both clubs spent big and unwisely, newly promoted Aston Villa 'splurged' out over £150 Million on new players in an attempt to hit the ground running, instead they flailed and sank. Hammers did exactly the same, spent big and got little in return, both clubs have now 'reviewed' their player acquisition template with the emphasis on young hungry players, from these shores if possible.

Villa came up through the play offs, as did West Ham and both clubs have achieved plenty in the past but little ever since, it should be remembered that the Villains won the European Cup. They did so on 26 May 1982 in Rotterdam, beating Bayern Munich 1–0 thanks to a Peter Withe goal.

This afternoon's visitors to the London Stadium have picked up seven points in their last three games including their crucial victory over Arsenal, so they have the inertia and also know that if they win they stay up, anything less than a win will leave their fans properly in the 'squeeky' zone as they wait for the results of the Watford and Bournemouth games.

For once today's game will be an enjoyable experience for Hammers fans, win, lose or draw, but the truth of the matter is neither team should have been in the league's basement in the first place, especially West Ham! Next season things must improve, and any attempt at getting 'exotic' should be rebuffed immediately, steady progress is what is called for, and no more trying to be billy big bollocks with the big boys.

Until, or unless the club is sold to extremely wealthy owners, the best fans can hope for is mid table safety and a good cup run or two, bearing in mind this season's travails that seems quite an attractive proposition. By around 6PM we will know which club sees West Ham as heroes or villains- Ed

West Ham are stepping up their interest in Brentford and Algeria forward 24 year old Said Benrahma, though much will depend on which division his club are in, Brentford needed four points from their final two games of the season to finish second after West Brom lost at Huddersfield, but back-to-back defeats mean Thomas Frank's side will now face Swansea in the play-off semi-finals as they bid to reach the top flight for the first time in 73 years. Benrahma is an excellent prospect with an impeccable injury record, he would be an astute signing but being one of the West London club's main assets he will not come cheap.

The complete polarisation of the interest in Benrahma is that the Irons are 'looking at' Callum Wilson, was once valued at £70 million by Bournemouth (Bleacher Report). The south coast outfit would surely get nowhere near that amount now, especially if they get relegated. The four-capped England international has scored nine goals in 38 games for Eddie Howe’s side this season, but Wilson has experienced horrendous injury problems in the past, so signing him would represent a huge risk for West Ham who must surely by now realise the folly of signing players with a track record of sustaining serious injuries!

No more crocks in the box please, offloading profligate 'vanity' signings like Jack Wilshere will be a herculean task, especially given the financial restrictions all but the most elite of clubs are facing, the squad David Moyes inherited for his 'second coming' was bloated, unbalanced and overpaid. Moyes will oversee a dual cull with two objectives, firstly trim the enormous wage bill, and up the energy levels of the squad by reducing the average age by a huge amount. He may have to recall Winston Reid if the New Zealander can stay fit, leaving him in America whilst paying 80% of his wages makes absolutely no sense whatsoever, Reid and Balbuena will be put on the market but realistically Balbuena would be most teams choice given the option.

In our opinion Fabian Balbuena has done little wrong, the pairing of Issa Diop and Angelo Ogbonna has been so successful that he has found himself occupying the bench for emergencies, and being used as a late sub to run down the clock. In an ideal world Balbuena would be retained but the layer himself wants to play and the club could get decent money for him, whereas no one would realistically want Reid because of his injury record, so if it comes to mainly being on the bench why not recall Reid? After all the club is paying just shy of £65,000 per week for him to be in the sunshine state playing for another club!

To end this report on a positive note, astonishingly Alavés are planning to sign goalkeeper Roberto from West Ham this summer on a permanent deal, the GaGo calamity keeper has been on loan there since the last transfer window AND they are very impressed with him! Crikey mikey, snap their hands off before they change their minds. The hapless keeper was the principal cause of Manuel Pellegrini's dismissal, having conceded over two goals per disastrous game when he played, cutting Roberto's £30,000 per week wages will be a huge relief but we will only believe it when it is officially confirmed.

Speculation will be rife as to player arrivals and departures, but one clear direction must emerge, no more crocks, in the box or not! - Ed