Forum | Non-Football Related

According to Spain based Radio Taronja and a whole stack of media outlets, West Ham United have agreed a deal to sign Valencia youngster Toni Martinez this summer, the 18-year-old will reportedly move to East London for a fee between £1.9 million and £2.3 million with Valencia insisting on a comprehensive first option buy back clause and a sell on fee believed to be as much as 25% should they decide not to exercise the buy back. Martinez is a centre forward who is yet to make his debut for Valencia’s first-team, featuring nine times for their second string side to date, he has been a prolific scorer at youth level and is seen as 'one for the future'. A slight word of caution, Freddie Sears scored goals for fun at youth level but came up short when it came to making the progression to the full team, he ended up having to drop down several levels before finally working his way back up to a promising career at Ipswich Town in the Championship. At around £ 2.5 Million Martinez appears to be worth a punt, and given West Ham's recent track record of finding bargains in the transfer market is a move that could only happen if sanctioned by the canny Davids Sullivan and Gold. All the current media coverage about West Ham, most of it positive, has raised the club's profile and with that comes the possibility of 'big hitters' arriving at the Boleyn, but while all the talk of sinking most of the transfer budget available into one expensive 20 goal a season striker might seem confirmation of West Ham's financial muscle and a rise to within touching distance of the Barclay's Premier League's higher echelons, it might strike fear in to supporters with long memories who remember only to painfully the fanfare that surrounded the arrival of great players who were never actually able to deliver as a result of injury and bad luck, to name a few Stuart Robson, Julien Faubert, Don Huchison, and not forgetting Dean Ashton, who showed in a cameo during Mark Noble's testimonial just how great he could have been.
If a big money striker is signed this summer, would it then herald the departure of Andy Carroll? Perhaps Slaven Billic sees the big man as his impact sub, £80,000 per week is a lot of money to pay for a part time performer, but today's ridiculously inflated football salaries make that wage look a bit of a bargain, it may be hard to take in, but this is the 'new way' and it appears the powers that be at West Ham have taken the reality of the new way on board and are determined not to be caught out by using old logic too much, of course that doesn't mean they will go hell for leather with this summer's budget, but they won't be afraid to put their hands in their pockets either. - Ed

Apart from the Mark Noble for England debate, turbo charged by BT Sport and other TV shows, there has been little of substance to report. The increase in capacity at the Olympic Stadium had been on the horizon almost as soon as Slaven Billic took over, his first steps on the pitch for the Europa League match against Lusitans seem a long long time ago, West Ham's subsequent success has ensured a vast over subscription for season tickets. The signing of Lanzini and the contract improvement for others is obviously very welcome for fans who had been used to, with the odd exception, bargain basement players. All events covered extensively in the media, but then the Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Benteke rumours cart to circulate, again! Sometimes it is hard to decipher whether a Brentwood Gazette 'leader' is a plant to be taken on by the Daily Mail, or if the Daily Mail is a plant to be taken on by the Brentwood Gazette!
Suffice to say these stories are there to fill up column inches, as is this article….Hammers have done incredibly well this season, they have exceeded all expectations and proved the doom merchants wrong, but the success will need to be consolidated wisely rather than the club 'doing a Leeds United', something that is highly unlikely given the co-owners propensity for sniffing out a bargain.
So Zlatan, go and milk Man Utd for £250K per week, west ham will only have to play against you two or three times a season, Slaven Billic will take that amount and build West Ham to another level, prudently but without a Jonny big balls attitude. - Ed