In a brand new daily feature we’re launching on WestHamWorld.co.uk, let’s take a brief look at the day’s big West Ham stories…
What could’ve been? – One of the biggest stories to have broken over the past 24 hours is Sam Allardyce’s claims that he could’ve signed Leicester’s Jamie Vardy when he was West Ham manager. Of course that doesn’t mean to say we would’ve gone on to win the Premier League, but could he have been the 20+ goal-a-season striker we’ve been desperate for in recent years. Read more of that story here.
Big boost ahead of the weekend – David Gold says he hopes Manuel Lanzini and Dimitri Payet will make their return to the starting XI when Watford come to the London Stadium on Saturday. Don’t we all, Dave? Read more of that story here.
Slav’s buzzing for Dimi – Slaven Bilic claims Dimitri Payet is raring to go ahead of Saturday’s Premier League clash with Watford after struggling with some early season fitness issues. Read Bilic’s pre-Watford words here.
AFCON Issues – West Ham quartet Andre Ayew, Cheikhou Kouyate, Sofiane Feghouli and Diafra Sakho could be unavailable for selection between January 14 and February 5 while they compete for their respective nations at the African Cup of Nations in Gabon. Nightmare. Read more of that story here.
Adrian’s Arbeloa praise – Adrian thinks the free signing of fellow Spaniard Alvaro Arbeloa will boost West Ham’s chances of success this season. Read Adrian’s comments here.
Millwall raid pending? – According to The Sun, we’re interesting in splashing out £2million on Millwall’s 20-year-old right-back Mahlon Romeo. Could he be Sam Byram’s long term understudy?
Congrats Ginger Pele – James Collins made his 50th cap for Wales during their World Cup qualifier against Moldova today. What a guy!
Remember this guy? – Remember Marco Borriello, the Italian striker who arrived on loan a couple of January’s ago but failed to do anything even remotely worthwhile? Well he reckons he had the chance to sign for Manchester United before eventually choosing Roma. Hmmm, I think someone’s telling porkies… Read Borriello’s comments here.
How much!? – According to Buzz Sport, West Ham told Real Madrid they needed to stump up a world record £92.9m to buy Dimitri Payet in the summer. No wonder he ended up staying at the club!
No Boleyn Ground expansion – While the whole London Stadium standing issue continues to rumble on, David Gold took to Twitter this evening to insist there was “absolutely no possibility” of expanding the Boleyn Ground’s capacity if we didn’t pursue and complete a move to Stratford.
Arthur impresses Aaron – Aaron Cresswell thinks Arthur Masuaku is a “very good” signing, despite knowing full well that the Frenchman is the first person to really threaten him for the left-back role since he signed from Ipswich in the summer of 2014. But of course, having some real competition could help Cresswell get even better. England calling once he’s fit again? Read Cresswell’s comments on Masuaku here.
Strength in Depth – We’ve taken an in-depth look at our squad depth after the summer transfer window, and the results are pretty encouraging. Read our assessment here.
And last but not least… – In the second of a two-part series. Slaven Bilic tells West Ham TV how happy he is to have kept Dimitri Payet at the club beyond the summer transfer window and the TV money in football is crazy but unstoppable. You can that interview below…
