22 Jul 2021 09:05:01
Morning All, I have taken my medication this morning and decided to share my thoughts on transfers

Rice is valued by WH at £100m whether they would get that or not is another subject, but as certain players are available NOW and not next season and taking into account we have off loaded Anderson wages and if we unloaded Yarlemenko wages this will free up over 200k so.

I would swap Rice for Abrahams and ask for £40m plus cash as part of the deal, I would then go out and get Danny Ings maybe £20m max, I would also go for Pereira from Westbrom who I think we could get for £15m

I would share the holding Mid role between Noble, Soucek, and Lanzini who I thought covered well for Rice last season, maybe Coventry could drop deep as another option, this would mean for one player as in Rice we have 2 proven strikers who score in the Prem to share and alleviate the burden for Antonio, and a decent Mid as we can't get Linguard, This still leaves the money Moyes will have this season to get a CD, and what other positions he feels, I honestly think that would be great business. my opinion only.

1.) 22 Jul 2021
22 Jul 2021 10:22:11
Warrington, Danny. Ings rolling on from last season would be a real decent addition, has had injury problems though, so the fee would need to be really reasonable!
Also just a thought that if Rice was to go, I think it would be an idea to offer Soucek the on field Captaincy, that would also hopefully give him an incentive to stay with a wage increase as well, it could encourage Coufal to stay as also? After last seasons performances from these outstanding players there will be a number of clubs home and abroad eying this great duo up? We cannot afford to lose this pair! âš’âš’âš’âš’.

2.) 22 Jul 2021
22 Jul 2021 11:24:20
Hi Chelms

Thanks for reply, yes I agree Soucek and Coufal are a must and I agree give Soucek the responsibility of the on field captain

I think my point was I think if not this season Rice will go next, but the players I mentioned will NOT be available as they are now, so we could a hefty fee but spend on a non proved prem striker where as we could get 2 proven scorers now. Agree again with Ings and injury but with Abrahams and Antonio we could manage him better, as in does he need to play every single game?

We can all speculate and the players may not want to come to Westham, But in my book to let Rice go and get two proven Prem strikers and a decent midfielder plus change is a no brainer.

3.) 22 Jul 2021
22 Jul 2021 13:08:15
Warrington, I have got to say it is a good argument but I am not sure I can agree with you.

Tammy Abraham and £40 million for Declan Rice, then signing Danny Ings for £20 million and Matheus Pereira for £15 million would be great business. I cannot disagree with any of that. However, I am not sure both Danny Ings and Tammy Abrahams would both join us. I think it is fair to say, both would expect to start each week. Ings won’t want to go from a guaranteed starter to the bench and Abraham wants first team football so is willing to leave Chelsea in search of it. With Antonio (who when fit is probably one of the first names on the team sheet currently) already at the club, I think both Ings and Abraham would hesitate to join us if the other already has, as it would be a hurdle to their first team opportunities. Does that make sense? I would love to be proved wrong though.

The problem I have with your suggestion is the lack of a Rice replacement. I know you suggested using players we already have but I don’t think they will give us even a fraction of the strength in midfield that we would be losing in the sale of Declan Rice.

Mark Noble hasn’t got the legs any more. He has started to look off the pace in games and with the addition of European football on a Thursday with league games on the Sunday! Honestly, I can’t see him being any more than a squad player, a decent squad player, but still a squad player.

Lanzini did do well last year when he covered for Rice, I don’t disagree and when we are playing teams whereby we can afford to be a bit more creative then playing him in a deeper role would be a good shout. However, in my opinion when Lanzini plays deeper we don't get the best out of Soucek. Lanzini is not defensive enough to give Soucek the freedom he gets with Rice alongside him. When Soucek goes forward, he has the confidence that Rice will cover anything behind and I don’t see Lanzini fills that void.

You also hinted at maybe playing Soucek a little further back, but I’ve got to be honest, why would you even consider that? Soucek is best as a box to box midfielder, able to get in to the box to score but equally as comfortable at the other end, so why restrict him and make him more defensive and lose that potency that he offers going forward?

Personally, I would have no issue selling Declan Rice if the investment with the money we get for him is used wisely, but a replacement for Rice if we do lose him is an absolute must in my opinion.

If Manchester City want him (although I think that has gone quiet now Fernandinho has signed for another year, although I think they’ll be back in for him next Summer if he is still a West Ham player) ; I would ask for Nathan Ake on loan for the season, Yangel Herrera on a permanent deal and £40 million. Arsenal have apparently earmarked Ake as a £25 million target if their move for Ben White fails and Yangel Herrera is apparently available for £20 million. Ake hardly featured last year but is a proven premier league centre back, but can also play left back and Herrera is a tenacious midfielder and has been out on loan at Granada in Spain for the last two seasons. Add Danny Ings for £20 million, Matheus Pereira for £15 million and Alphonse Areola on loan from PSG with an option to buy next Summer and we have signed a goalkeeper, a centre back (on loan), a central midfielder, winger and a forward and still have whatever budget was set aside for a striker and centre back and £5 million left over from the sale of Rice (although I imagine this would be diminished by the increase in wage outgoings and bonuses and sign on fees etc) .

We missed a trick with Chelsea in the shape of Marc Guehi, he would have been a great addition at centre back. Now he isn’t an option if Chelsea want him; I would ask for Tammy Abraham and £50 million. Add Attila Szalai from Fenerbache for £18 million (apparently available for 20 million Euros), Nahitan Nandez from Cagliari for £30 million (apparently available for 35 million Euros), Matheus Pereira for £15 million and Alphonse Areola on loan from PSG with an option to buy next Summer and we have signed a goalkeeper, a centre back, a central midfielder, a winger and a forward for a net spend of £13 million (although I imagine this would be more by the increase in wage outgoings and bonuses and sign on fees etc) .

4.) 22 Jul 2021
22 Jul 2021 13:34:06
Abraham + 40m for rice is a great deal but for Chelsea! Not sure why any west ham fan would be interested in that.

His value was 100m before the euros and after his performances that should have went up not down!

We might not be in the best position financially right now but we should be able to fund a stiker, attacking midfielder and a CB or 2 if we smart we can make 4, 5 decent signings and keep Rice.

Id rather do that and give some of the youth players a chance.

5.) 22 Jul 2021
22 Jul 2021 13:39:50
Die_4, Wow that’s a really well thought out post, must have taken some research, well done, you must be an accountant🤣👍⚒⚒⚒⚒.

6.) 22 Jul 2021
22 Jul 2021 15:05:09
Thanks Chelms, appreciate it, although not the accountant thing. Haha.

Look at the end of the day, West Ham have a decent starting XI as it is but let's be honest, our squad depth is lacking. We need reinforcements, especially with European football on the agenda this year.

Some articles suggested we have an £80 million transfer budget this year, others suggest we have nothing.

C.V. has had a big impact for a lot of clubs, I vaguely remember something Ed002 said "West Ham have been affected more than most" although if I am remembering incorrectly then I apologise now Ed.

We have let Anderson go for peanuts and we are looking to offload Yarmolenko. Lingard isn't looking all that promising either. So that is 3 attack minded players that we are losing, albeit, one of them wasn't at the club last season and one was only loaned to us.

As a fan, it concerns me the lack of strength in the squad. Rice got injured and we struggled for results. If we sell Rice and don't replace him, we are making a mistake.

I have said this in a couple of posts previously, if West Ham sell Declan Rice for cash, it won't be a bad thing IF WE INVEST THE MONEY PROPERLY. All we have got to do is look at the way Leicester have done business in the last few years. They have sold Kante and Maguire for big money and invested well in replacements. They're not struggling after offloading their prized assets.

I like young, hungry players. I thought Attila Szalai was an absolute monster for Hungary during the Euros. I think Yangel Herrera has done well in La Liga and I think he is tailor made for English football, he makes me think of Aston Villa' Douglas Luis - who coincidentally joined Villa from City after playing for two years in Spain on loan.

We need at least one forward and I agree Danny Ings would be an awesome signing, as would Tammy Abraham, but I don't see us signing both.

Long story short, if we sell Rice and invest wisely, I am sure we will still be competitive. If we keep Rice and don't have a decent budget for players to improve our squad depth, I am concerned that it could be a long season if we get an injury to a key player and a suspension or two. Can you imagine if last year whilst Rice got injured, Soucek had been suspended?

7.) 22 Jul 2021
22 Jul 2021 18:20:53
Die_4, I wasn’t a fan of us getting into Euro because I said and you rightly say the lack of depth in our squad! But a lot of posters put up the argument that it would attract players if we were in Euro, which I totally agreed with as well!
We have the toughest league in the world in the Premiership, then our Internationals, players travelling
, I hope it doesn’t affect our Premiership standing if a few injuries are picked up! But that’s looking on the downside, let’s hope it works in reverse for us, maybe it could👍⚒⚒⚒⚒.

8.) 23 Jul 2021
22 Jul 2021 18:23:12
Leicester are a great example! From what Moyes has said though we have had a pretty much non existent scouting setup. With no director of football in place we haven't really had much stability and structure in the way that we target players and managers.

I wouldn't feel comfortable letting Rice go at this stage with the right signings we could establish ourselves as a team regularly competing for top 6 we were so close to getting top 4 this season and could argue were very unlucky not to be in the champions league!

Besides he's just posted on his Instagram looking very happy in our new away kit! I believe a lot of the stuff posted about him is absolute nonsense!