West Ham, West Ham, West Ham… Where do I start?
What an eventful few weeks we have all endured, linked with European winning managers to signing half of the French national team.
But where do we stand now? The appointment of Slaven Bilic may of been a surprise to some, but as soon as Big Sam’s contract was out he was the only man siutable to step into the role. We may of been linked to some of the world finest managers, including Rafa Benitez and Unai Emery, but let’s all be realistic, why would they want to manage such a deflated team?
Some may frown upon the term ‘deflated’ but you tell me, can this current West Ham squad cope with such an overload of constant competitive football this season? Don’t get me wrong, I believe our current strongest XI could give anyone a run for their money, but where is our strength in depth?
At this rate we will be forced to put half a youth team on the bench! Considering our emphatic qualification to the Europe league, so far this summer we are already short of senior personnel. This summer we have lost beloved hero Carlton Cole, veterans Jussi Jaaskelainen and Guy Demel and young-full back Dan Potts.
Along with Carl Jenkinson returning to parent club Arsenal and Alex Song’s return to Champions league winners Barcelona, the depth of the squad has been seriously hindered. The signings of midfielder Pedro Obiang and goalkeeper Darren Randolph are simply not enough.
I believe we need to sign at least five more players with two of those being easy first team starters. In the past week or so we have been linked with a whole host of names, some ludicrous (Carlos Tevez) but some real names that show the club’s growing ambition.
It would be fantastic for the club to sign Loic Remy, as he is a proven league scorer and exactly what we are looking for.
However, other names including Yohan Cabaye and Dejan Lovren don’t whet my appetite much. Cabaye is a funny one for me, after recently joining French champions PSG having shinning week week for Newcastle.
Cabaye at West Ham would be fantastic but when you take into account his age of 29 and price of around £12million, I think there is better ways we could spend our money. Even after his dismal season Liverpool, still want close to £12m for Lovren. Along with that, I believe both Winston Reid and James Tomkins are better all rounded defenders than Lovren, so paying that fee for a bench warmer is stupid.
However, out of all the names to be linked with us France international midfielder Dimitri Payet stands out the most. I believe the 28-year-old creative midfielder is that one player we was missing last season who has a bit of flare and knows where the back of the net is.
Payet has scored 15 goals in 72 games for Marseille since joining them in 2013, and has since been rewarded with 14 caps for France. A reported £6million fee is wanted by Marseille, but I think he will end up going for considerably more. I recommend Gold and Sullivan to get their check books out before anyone else snaps Payet up.
Lastly, poor Carl Jenkinson – seems not body wants him. Currently away with the England U21s, Carl is obviously not wanted by Arsenal and with them demanding a £2m loan fee, who knows where he will end up.
He was a highlight player for us last season so I would like to think joining us for another season is on the cards. As it stands we our lacking enough first team players needed to get us through this increasing challenging season before our trek across east London and into the Olympic stadium.
At this rate I would happily take a Roger Johnson and a 3rd time signing of the one and only Carlton Cole! Is this how bad it’s got?
Bit too early for desperation isn’t it. Yes we need players and preferably soon but the early games in the Europa League should not be too much of a strain so really it is a matter of getting the right players in for late July. One more decent signing by end of next week would be acceptable in my opinion. Hopefully we may have Jenks sorted soon after that too but he will need a break so won’t feature in early Europa League matches.
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