‘It’s going to be an interesting, exciting summer.’ Those were the words of West Ham boss Graham Potter at the end of last season as thoughts turned from a dismal league campaign into a time for much-needed change.
One of the oldest squads in the division, one that needed a complete overhaul and injecting with pace, purpose and a sense of excitement that’s long been missing.
Only a month remains of the transfer window and Potter’s planned summer overhaul is yet, really, to kick into gear and threatens to keep spluttering along until the season begins.
Our West Ham expert JAMES SHARPE answers the key questions on what still needs to be done and what deals could happen before the window closes.
What have West Ham done so far?
Not much, nowhere near enough. West Ham have signed just two first-team players so far this summer, Senegal left back El Hadji Malick Diouf for about £19million and former Tottenham and England full back Kyle Walker-Peters on a free transfer after his contract expired at Southampton.
Well, three if you count centre back Jean-Clair Todibo’s loan signing from Nice being made permanent automatically for a whopping £35m thanks to West Ham’s survival. But Todibo is a player brought to the club by a technical director in Tim Steidten, for a manager in Julen Lopetegui, neither of whom remain at the club. If that’s not money well spent…
El Hadji Malick Diouf (third left) with his new West Ham team-mates in New York City
Diouf’s arrival, however, provided a clearer example of the kind of player Potter and head of recruitment Kyle Macauley are targeting: young, bursting with talent but with room to grow and develop with tons of resale value.
At just 20, he helps bring down the age of one of the oldest squads in the Premier League and impressed immediately when he came off the bench in West Ham’s pre-season friendly against Grasshoppers in Zurich, showing pace and desire to get down the line and whip crosses into the box much to big German Niclas Fullkrug’s enjoyment, before making his first start at wing-back in the defeat to Manchester United.
‘I thought he did well, you can see what he brings to the team, attacked the back line a lot, got in some good crossing positions, looked dangerous, played with enthusiasm,’ said Potter after the Grasshoppers game.
What do they still need to do?
A lot, really. The top priority is a new goalkeeper, not just because veteran Lukasz Fabianski left at the end of the season but also the growing questions over the ability of current No 1 Alphonse Areola.
That came to a head once again in West Ham’s pre-season defeat to United when he first dropped a looping ball and then brought down Ayden Heaven to give away a penalty, before later passing it straight to Kobbie Mainoo and then standing stock still as Bruno Fernandes’ long-range shot flew past him into the net.
Central midfielders are also high on the shopping list. After wasting the £100m process from selling Declan Rice to Arsenal two years ago, Potter finds himself with such little legs and dynamism in the middle of the park that he admitted at the end of last season that West Ham were far from being able to ‘dominate games through attacking football’.
Potter would like another winger, too, especially with Crysencio Summerville still recovering from a hamstring injury and Mohammed Kudus leaving for Spurs, though he has utilised a wing-back system during pre-season and at the end of last season to get around it.
It was felt at the start of the summer, with Danny Ings being released, Evan Ferguson going back to Brighton and Michail Antonio still recovering after his car crash and yet to sign a new deal, that a striker was needed but as the summer has progressed club sources have made it appear less and less important.
Alphonse Areola is still a huge concern as West Ham’s first-choice goalkeeper
Injury-prone 32-year-old Niclas Fullkrug remains West Ham’s only first-team striker
When your only first-team striker is a Fullkrug, an injury-prone front man in his 30s who Potter believes is best-suited as an impact sub off the bench, you might think it’s a position that needs strengthening. Fullkrug has come back for pre-season leaner and fitter and Potter said this week that he hopes the German can have a ‘big impact’.
‘He came back, did a lot of work, physically he’s in a really good position, and played a few games in pre-season which is the opposite of what we inherited in January when it was stop-start and he was injured in the first game,’ Potter told NBC ahead of the defeat to United. ‘So we’re hopeful he can have a big impact for us.’
Potter also thinks Jarrod Bowen is more suited off the right than through the middle, though in the current wing-back system he would always be utilised through the middle.
Who are they targeting?
Leicester goalkeeper Mads Hermansen remains high on their list as does Parma and Japan international Zion Suzuki.
The Foxes have just signed veteran keeper Asmir Begovic on a one-year deal, reuniting with his former QPR boss Marti Cifuentes, but is not expected to mean a definite exit for Hermansen or fellow Leicester stopper Jakub Stolarcyzk.
Hermansen was nurtured at Brondby by new West Ham goalkeeping coach Casper Ankergren so there’s a feeling that the Dane would prove a natural fit if a deal can be agreed. The Foxes are braced for an approach and know they need to sell players if they are to do much business themselves, with Hermansen one of their most saleable assets.
Parma’s 22-year-old Suzuki, meanwhile, is seen as one of the best young goalkeepers in the world and, again, would tick the ‘young, talented, resaleable’ off the Potter and Macauley bingo card. His signing would also open marketing opportunities in the Asian market, and Manchester United have also been linked with him in the past.
There were reports that West Ham were also targeting Sheffield United’s Michael Cooper but senior club sources played down the speculation. It’s believed the club are interested in a keeper on the other side of the Steel City in Wednesday’s Pierce Charles.
US-born Japan international Zion Suzuki of Parma is viewed as one of the best young goalkeepers in the world
The controversial signing of free agent Callum Wilson (another injury-prone striker in his 30s, you say?) remains on the table. Senior sources suggested recently that the former Newcastle front man’s arrival was a foregone conclusion, but an announcement is yet to arrive. It’s believed all parties are waiting until later in the window.
It’s clear Wilson is not a Potter target but it’s understood the manager is content not to take on his superiors over a signing that would arrive on a low basic salary based mainly around appearances and goals.
In midfield, Chelsea’s Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall has long been of interest but, as with most of West Ham’s targets, much will depend on asking price and wages. Fulham are also interested.
That is what is holding back talks over Liverpool attacking midfielder Harvey Elliott and, to a lesser extent, his team-mate Tyler Morton. ‘We’d love them, but sadly a long way off,’ a club source told Mail Sport recently. Liverpool want at least £40m for Elliott while the Hammers face competition from Lyon for Morton.
Werder Bremen attacking midfielder Romano Schmid is a potential target as are Southampton duo Shea Charles and Matheus Fernandes, the latter of which is attracting a lot of interest from around the Premier League.
Is there enough budget and PSR headroom left to fill their needs?
West Ham insiders spent the start of the window stressing they needed to sell before they could buy due to PSR concerns. This is a club that spent the best part of £250m over the past two years.
The £55m departure of Kudus to Spurs helped free up funds that sparked the move for Diouf and bolstered their future plans. But if they want to pursue the likes of Elliott and Fernandes, they will likely need to get more players out the door.
Whether that is due to PSR concerns, cash flow issues or owners not wanting to put their hands in their own pockets remains to be seen, but it is likely West Ham will want to sell again before they land any bigger targets.
West Ham will almost certainly have to sell more players before they can progress with deals for Liverpool duo Tyler Morton (left) and Harvey Elliott (right)
Austria international Romano Schmid of Werder Bremen is on West Ham’s transfer target list
And who is heading for the exit?
All eyes on Lucas Paqueta. The Brazilian is expected to find out the long-awaited verdict of his spot-fixing trial in the coming days and if, as sources suggest, he is cleared of wrongdoing, the club are keen to cash in.
The club missed out on a £85m payday two years ago when Mail Sport broke the news that Paqueta was being investigated for four suspicious yellow cards, and his move to Man City collapsed. West Ham believe they can cash in again, though how much they will be able to get for him is up for debate.
An emotional return to hometown club Flamengo in Rio de Janeiro is a strong possibility and the Brazilian giants are under the impression West Ham would let him go for a bid in the region of around £30m – around £10m more than the club’s current record signing.
‘He’s not our player, he belongs to a Premier League club, one of the best in Europe,’ Flamengo boss Filipe Luis said when quizzed on his side making a move for the 27-year-old, who joined the club as a 10-year-old and left for AC Milan 12 years later.
Lucas Paqueta joined Flamengo as a 10-year-old and spent 12 years there before leaving for AC Milan in 2019
‘We respect that. Paqueta has a big history here, the fans love him. He could play for any team.’
However, a West Ham insider told Mail Sport that the club believe they will ‘get a lot more than £25m or we’d keep him’.
In response to Mail Sport’s story that Paqueta could leave on a cut-price deal, a senior club source told West Ham fan site Claret & Hugh: ‘We’d not sell him for that. We see him as a £60-70m player, or we keep him.’ The proof, as always, will be in the pudding.
West Ham are also keen to flog other, less lucrative, members of their squad like Edson Alvarez, Guido Rodriguez and Nayef Aguerd but are yet to receive any interest or acceptable offers.
