West Ham Monday Briefing: Max Kilmania, Scattergunnery, and Reasons To Be Fearful Part Three

[ominous music playing]

I feel there has been a subtle change of pre-season mood in the last few days. Gone are the carefree claims of West Ham being busy in the opening days of transfer window, replaced by niggling suspicions that the club needs to pull its collective finger out and get a move on with recruitment.

With no sense irony, one of the more prolific transfer sites – which happily repeats each and every unsubstantiated rumour and half-truth on a daily basis – has accused the club of taking a scattergun approach to recruitment. There is no evidence to support that. Although, we should recognise it makes perefct sense to identify several targets for each position. Success rates are likley not high once it comes down to the nitty gritty of negotiating terms and contracts.

Past performance does not cast the Hammer’s hierarchy as stealthy and agile operators when it comes to signing players. For them, no potential deal can’t be improved by an extended period of petty haggling. Can they really sign six or seven players in a few weeks?

The first pre-season friendly takes place in less than 21 days and the big kick-off is now under seven weeks away. Not long to rebuild the squad and schooling them to play a whole new ball game. Perversely, the most significant rebuild activities to date have been even more outgoings as we bid a fond farewell to Said Benrahma, Ben Johnson and Divin Mubama. Nayef Aguerd and Kurt Zouma are expected to follow. Of the two signings, Luis Guilherme is one for the future while Wes Foderingham will be mainly employed carrying the kit and slicing the half-time oranges.

It leaves a lot of work to do and not much time to do it in. Every team in the modern Premier League is based around roles and organisation. If the expectation of Julen Lopetegui is to transform West Ham into a possession-based side playing out from the back, then that has to be drilled into the players over and over again on the training ground. If half of those players have yet to be signed, then the challenge increases exponentially.

Unless the pace of recruitment picks up significantly, we may well be in for a very slow start to the season. It would be sure to put added pressure on a coach, who may not enjoy the longest of honeymoon periods, and with the careful-what-you-wish-for brigade sniping from the sidelines.

[money being counted]

The dilemma facing West Ham is hoping to get recruitment done early while signing players at bargain prices. Unless they are desperate to raise money, selling clubs hold most of the cards in the early days of the window. If there is perceived competition for a player then why would they accept a low-ball bid now rather than hold out for a better deal?

This is perfectly illustrated in what has been reported on the pursuit of Max Kilman, a player who is allegedly one of the Hammer’s top targets. If Wolves don’t need to sell and there is also interest from Manchester United and Newcastle, they would be daft to agree now to a bid that didn’t meet their valuation? The time for compromise comes towards the end of the window. But only if they are resigned to losing him and need to fund a replacement. Personally, I believe it is time to move on. It is wrong to get fixated over a single player (Jesse Lingard?) and at an asking price of up to £45 million there must be better value out there.

None of us know how much West Ham are prepared to commit to on player transfers and wages in the summer . There are external limits imposed by PSR/ FFP but these are different to any restrictions that may arise from funding or cash flow. I read one self-appointed club insider who, having studied O Level Accounting, came up with a figure of £55 million. Several rumour sites have picked this up and have been running with as a fact. While I doubt the figure has any credibility, I suspect the club’s summer plans were predicated on cashing in on the sale of Lucas Paqueta. With that option not currently available, it does raise awkward question about what assurances were given to a coach who has previous with broken promises. Selling any of the club’s few remaining player assets would only make the rebuilding job even more problematical.

[indistinct transfer chatter]

It has been a disappointing week for the transfer target table with only 12 new names coming to my attention. The full list (click here) now stands at 98 targets having failed to breakthrough the century barrier. No doubt the ongoing Euros and Copa America has diverted attention.

With the window now fully open in the major European leagues, activity may start to accelerate until it ‘slams shut’ on 31 August. According to the Transfermkt website, the Saudi Pro League window runs from 17 July to 6 October. Their unlimited millions may well have ramifications for Premier League clubs.  

Several of this week’s additions – Lukaku, Walker-Peters, Wan-Bissaka – would have been right up the Scottish manager’s street. Hopefully, there are now loftier ambitions.

[checking for minor hidden infringements]

It was refreshing to see England finally make a telling contribution to Euro 2024 when the PGMOL contingent imposed its finicky interpretation of VAR onto the Germany – Denmark game. About time people spent more time discussing the refereeing talking points than the action on the pitch. Don’t mention the VAR.