So, as the January window has closed, here is the new transfer fact and fiction thread for 2017-18. The reason I have started it this early ( Feb1st 2017) is that the press/tv/radio/web will be filled with stories of who will be getting Rose, Walker, Dele, Kane and Pochettino and we will be discussing how the hell we get rid of Sissoko! I will update as we buy, sell or loan players. 2017-18 Players Sold or Released 1) Nathan Oduwa sold to Olimpija Ljubljana undisclosed Feb 2017 2) Nabil Bentaleb sold to Schalke £16m Feb 2017 3) Filip Lesniak 4) Tom McDermott 5) Joe Muscatt 6) Charlie Owens 7) Zenon Stylianides 8) Juan Pablo Gonzalez-Velasco 9) Luke Mcgee sold to Portsmouth undisclosed 10) Fazio to Roma undisclosed July 2017 11) K Walker to Man City £50m July 2017 12) C Njie to O M £8m 13) Kevin Wimmer to Stoke £18m 14) Will Miller to Burton Albion (undisclosed) Players Bought 1) Paulo Gazzaniga £3m 2) Davison Sanchez £28m plus £14m add ons 3) Juan Foyth £9m 4) Serge Aurier £23m 5) Fernando Llorente £12m 6) Moura £25m Players Loaned in Players Loaned out 1) Connor Olgillvie to Gillingham (renewed in jan) 2) Anton Walkes to Atlanta United 3) Josh Onomah to Aston Villa 4) Cameron Carter Vickers to Sheffield United 5) Janssen to Fenerbache 6) GKN to Burnley until end of season 7) Edwards to Norwich until end of season 8) Cameron Carter Vickers (again) to ipswich 9) Ryan Loft to Exeter City 10) Anton Walked (again) Portsmouth 11) Luke Amos to Stevenage 12) Stay in Harrison to Southend United Players returned from loan 1) Carter-vickers 2) Anton Walkes 2018/19 Transfers Out Keanan Bennetts to Borussia £2m Christian Maghoma to Arka Gdynia Noni Madueke to PSV (free) Anton Walked to Portsmouth (undisclosed) Haden Brown to Huddersfield (undis) M Dembele to Guangzhou R&F £11m Transfers In New contracts 1) Pochettino until 2024 2) Kyle Walker-Peters until 2021 3) Davison Sanchez until 2024 4) Cameron Vicker Carters until 2021 5) Harry Winks until 2023 6) Michael Vorm extended til 2019 7) Harry Kane until 2024 8) Son until 2023 9) Lamela until 2022 Loan returns Loans Out 1) Cameron Carter Vickers 2) Marcus Edwards 3) G Nkoudou 4) A Georgiou 5) K Stirling 6) Onomah 7) Shashoua 8) Ogilvie 9) Harrison Released 1) Ryan Loft 2) Christian Maghoma 3) Luke O’Reilly 4) Joe Pritchard 5) Nick Tsaroulla 6) Matthew Lock 2019/20 Transfers Out 1. Connor Ogilvie to Gillingham (undis) 2. Kieran Trippier to A. Madrid £20m 3. Vincent Janssen to Monterrey £8m 4.Shayon Harrison to Almere City (undis) 5. Joshua Onomah to Fulham (£5m) 6. Samuel Shashoua to Tenerife (undis) 7. Marcus Edwards to Vitoria SportClube (Undis) Transfers in 1. Kion Ekete from Notts County (£200,000) 2. Jack Clarke from Leeds (£10m) 3. Tanguy Ndombele from Lyon (£53.8m) 4. Sessegnon from fulham (£30m) Loans in 1. Giovanni Lo Celsa ... from Real Betis to be bought next summer for £55m Loan Returns Loans out Amos to QPR until May 2020 Clarke to Leeds until May 2020 Cameron Carter Vickers to Stoke july 2021 George Marsh to orient until Jan 2020 Anthony Georgiou to Ipswich til jan 2020 Jack Roles to Cambridge utd until jan 2020 New contracts Jack Roles until July 2021 Japhet Tanganga until July 2020 George Marsh until July 2021 Moura until june 2024 Anthony Georgiou until june 2021 Released Michel Vorm Dylan Duncan Charlie Freeman Tom Glover Connor Ogilvie Jamie Reynolds Fernando Llorente October 2019 Michel Vorm ...free signing til June 2020 Jan 2020 Signings Steven Bergwijn from psv Lo Celso loan made permanent Transfers out Paris Maghoma to Brentford undisclosed Tashan Boothe to stoke undisclosed Eriksen to Inter Milan £17m Luis Binks to Montreal Impact Victor Wanyama to Montreal Impact Loans In Gedson Fernandes... 18 month Loan returns Jack Clarke from Leeds Cameron Carter-Vickers Anthony Georgiou Kaziah Sterling Loans out Jack Clarke to QPR until end of season Armando Shashoua to Athletico Balesares Brandon Austin to Viborg FF KW Peters to Southampton Timothy Eyoma to Lincoln Danny Rose to Newcastle Georgiou to Bolton Kazaiah Sterling to Leyton orient Shilow Tracey to Macclesfield Summer transfers 2020-2021 season New Contracts Maurizio Pochettino until 2023 Oliver Skipp until june 2024 Isac Solberg until june 2023 Eric Dier until june 2024 Japhet Tanganga june 2025 TJ Eyoma june 2023 J Foyth june 2023 Released Rayan Clarke, Jonathan Dinzeyi, Tariq Hinds, Phoenix Patterson, Maxwell Statham Transfers out Maximus Tanio to FC Haka ... free Kyle Walker Peters to Southampton £13m Armando Shashoua to Atlético Baleares ... Undisclosed Luke Amos to QPR....undisclosed Transfers in Alfie Devine from Wigan £300,000 Pierre-Emile Højbjerg from Soton £15m Joe Hart .... free Matt Doherty ... wolves £13.4 plus add ons Keenan Ferguson ... sheff utd ... free Sergio Reguilón R Madrid £25m+ add ons Maksim Paskotsi...Florrin Tallinn £45k Marcel Lavinier ....Chelsea ... free Obi Omole...Arsenal ... free Joe Rodon ... Swansea £11m plus add ons Loans out Troy Parrott to Millwall til june 2021 TJ Eyoma to Lincoln City til june 2021 Oliver Skipp to Norwich til June 2021 S Tracey to Shrewsbury til june 2021 J Foyth to Villarreal til June 2021 R Sessegnon to Hoffenheim til june 2021 kazaiahStirling to Southend til june 2021 Cameron Carter Vickers to Swansea til june 2021 Josh Oluwayemi to maidenhead Loans in BALE from Real Madrid til May 2020 Carlos Vinicius from Benfica January 2021 Transfers Out Anthony Georgiou to AEL Limassol Maurizio Pochettino to Watford Jonathan De Bie to R.W.D. Molenbeek Gedson Fernandes loan ended with Benfica Paulo Gazzaniga to Elche Loan returns K Stirling from Southend Josh Oluwayemi from maidenhead Troy Parrott from Millwall Loan out Jack Clarke to Stoke until May 2021 Harvey White to Portsmouth untill May 2021 Brandon Austin to Orlando until May 2021 Malachi ***an-Walcott to Dundee til May 21 Troy Parrot to Ipswich until May 2021 Kazaiah Sterling to Stirling until May 2021 Jack Roles to Stevenage until May 2021 Alfie Whiteman to Degerfors IF (Sweden) Pape Sarr to Metz until May 2021 Summer 2021 Transfers in Bryan Gil from Savilla £25m approx and Lamela Cristian Romero £45m from Atlanta Pape Sarr €15m from Metz Emerson Royal £25m from Barcelona Loans in Pierluigi Gollini from Atlanta Transfers out Danny Rose (free) Paulo Gazzaniga (free) Juan Foyth £15m Villarreal Erik Lamela part exchange to Sevilla Toby Alderweireld £13m to Al-Duhail SC Joe Hart £1m to Celtic Jubril Okedina undisclosed to Cambridge Denis Cirkin undisclosed to Sunderland Sissoko to Watford £5m Loan returns Jack Clarke Harvey White Brandon Austin Malachi ***an-Walcott Troy Parrot Kazaiah Sterling Jack Roles Oliver Skipp Loans out Troy Parrott to MK Dons until May 2022 Jamie Bowden to Oldham until May 2022 Kion Ekete to Northampton until May 2022 Jniel Bennett to crewe until May 2022 Cameron Carter Vickers to Celtic until May 2022 Released Enock Asante Chay Cooper Keenan Ferguson George Marsh Rodel Richards Jack Roles Aaron Skinner Kazaiah Sterling Shilow Tracey Eddie Carrington Tarrelle Whittaker. Loans in returned Bale Vinicius Jan window 2022 Signings Charlie Sayers from Southend Rodrigo Bentancur from Juventus Sold Dilan Markanday to Blackburn £1m Dele to Everton £10m released Jeremy Kyezu Loan returns J'Neil Bennett recalled from Crewe due to injury Kion Etete Loans out Kion Etete to Cheltenham Nile John to Charlton Clarke to Sunderland Ndombele to Lyon Gil to Valencia Lo Celso to Villareal Alfie Whiteman to Degerfors IF Loans in Dejan Kulusevski from Juventus Bentancur from Juventus 2022-2023 season summer window In Ivan Perišić from Inter (free) Fraiser Forster from Southampton (free) Yves Bissouma from Brighton £25m Josh keeley (undisclosed) Richarlison Everton £50m and £10m add ons Djed Spence from Boro £12.5m +£7.5 add ons Destiny Udogie from Udinesse £15m Romero loan made permanent (undisclosed) Will Lankshear from Sheff utd £2.5m Out C Carter Vickers to celtic £6m with add ons Steven Bergwijn to Ajax £28m Jack Clarke to Sunderland £5m with add ons Kion Etete to Cardiff undisclosed New Contracts Parrott til 2025 Davies til 2024 Loans In Clément Lenglet from Barcelona til May 23 Loans Out Troy Parrott to PNE til May 2023 Dane Scarlett to Portsmouth til May 2023 Joe Rodon to Rennes May 2023 (buy option) Lo Celso to Villereal until May 2023 Destiny Udogie to Udinesse until May 2023 Ndombele to Napoli until May 2023 Reguilón to Athletico Madrid til May 2023 Winks to Sampdoria until May 2023 Loan returns (in) Lo Celso Ndombele Loan returns (out) Gollini Released J'Neil Bennett Kacper Kurylowicz Dermi Lusala Thimothee Lo-Tutala Josh Oluwayemi Tobi Omole Isak Solberg Jez Davies Jordan Hackett Khalon Haysman Renaldo Torraj Oliver Turner Jan 2023 Loan in Arnaut Danjuma til May Porro from Sporting Lisbon til May Obligation to buy for £39m Loans out Bryan Gil to Sevilla til May 2023 Spence to Rennes til May 2023 Harvey White to Derby til May 2023 Contract Terminated Doherty to Athletico Madrid Summer 2023 In Guglielmo Vicario from Empoli £20m Kuluchevski loan made permanent £25m James Maddison from Leicester £40m Manor Soloman free Ashley Phillips from Blackburn £3m Mickey Van De Ven from Wolfsberg £43m Alejo Véliz from ? £16m Brendan Johnson from Forest £45m Luka Vuskovic from H Split undisclosed Porro £35m Out Harry Winks to Leicester £10m Harry Kane to B Munich £94m + add ons D sanchez to Galatasaray £8m + add ons Loans out Rodon to Leeds until May 2024 Parrot to Excelsior Rotterdam till May 24 Spence to Leeds till May 24 Scarlett to Ipswich till Jan 24 Reguilon to Man Utd till Jan 24 Tanganga to Augsburg till May 24 Ndombele to Galatasary till May 24 Luka Vuskovic to H Split till May 25 Alfie Devine to port Vale til Xmas 23 End of contract Lucas Moura Loan ended Clement Lenglet Arnaut Danjuma Released Jamie Bowden Kallum Cesay Malachi ***an-Walcott Roshaun Mathurin Marqes Muir Romaine Mundle Thomas Bloxham Brandon Bryan-Waugh Riley Owen January 2024 Out Lloris free transfer Brooklyn Lyons-Foster to Helsinki (undis) Dier to Bayern - Munich £4m In Dragusin from Genoa £25m plus add ons Bergvail from ? 10m Loans out Ashley Phillips to Plymouth til May 24 Djed Spence to Genoa til May 24 Matthew Craig to Doncaster til May 24 Josh Keeley to Barnet till May 24 Alfie Devine to Plymouth til may 24 Reguilon to Brentford til may 24 Tanganga to Millwall til may 24 Peresic to Hadjuk Split til may 24 Bergvail to ? til may 24 Veliz to Savile till May 24 Loan returns Spence (loan deal ended by Leeds) Scarlett (loan deal ended by us) Regluion Alfie Devine Loans in Timo Werner from RB Liepzig til May 24 Summer 2024 Released Perisic Tanganga Sessengon Ndombele Loans Out P Hoejberg to Olympic Marseille Obligation to buy in summer 25 £13.5m Gil to Girona for the season with option to buy Veliz to Espanyol for the season Scarlett to Oxford for the season Jamie Donley to Orient for the season Ashley Philips to Stoke for the season Manor Solomon to Leeds for season Alfie Devine to Westerlo for season Loans In Werner from RB Liepzig till May 2025 Sold Rodon £10m (part of Archie Gray deal) Troy Parrott to AZ alkmar £6.7m Emerson Royal to AC Milan undisclosed (Reports of £8m plus £4m add ons) Soonsup-bell to ? Undisclosed Lo Celso to Real Betis £8.4m Bought Archie Gray £30m Solanke £65m Wilson Odobert £25m
Let's get started with a list of players we were linked to during January: Ryan Sessegnon Youri Tielemans Andrea Pinamonti Ozancan Kokcu Guilherme Arana Bruma Ross Barkley Wilfried Zaha Probably useful for comparison come September...
I predict that the 'Sullivan & Gold Comedy Corner' thread will outlive them all, and will in time become a key archival source for historians in the future wishing to trace and study the demise of West Ham United from the Premier League down to the Isthmian Division One South league, where their stadium capacity will exceed the league average by 59,000 (empty) seats. I am hopeful that in decades hence, it will become a cornerstone for economics and sport science curriculum across the country. And perhaps, one day, our grandchildren will merit the opportunity to turn to our posts and insights as they prepare their dissertations in 'Failed Business Models and Incompetent Executive Leadership'. Just picture it gentlemen, an A-level exam question in 2062... 'Compare and contrast David Sullivan with erectile dysfunction in no more than 1000 words. You may wish to make reference to the 2017 debate between O.Spurcat and remembercolinlee regarding the contribution of Baroness Brady to sexually transmitted diseases.' [This question is worth 30% of your overall grade]
Kicker are reporting that, if Schalke fail to qualify for European football this season, then Bentaleb is not willing to turn his loan into a permanent deal I can certainly see where Bentaleb is coming from considering he found himself getting singled out by the German press earlier in the season and was lumped in with the other players dubbed "Schalke Slackers" but he's since turned it around, something which cannot be said for several of his teammates as the club are currently in 11th, and their points total is much closer to the automatic relegation places than the Europa League places. Actually, looking at the Bundesliga table, it's bizarre to see how many teams are doing badly this season: Hamburg are in the relegation spots while Wolfsburg, Werder Bremen and A German Team are doing worse than Schalke, while Leverkusen aren't doing much better. in other words, it sounds an awful lot like last season's Premier League, with numerous teams conspiring to be utter dogshit that has allowed Taurine FC to do so well.
As I said a few months ago, if the performances for Schalke have been good, and they report that his general/training attitude is as Pochettino desires, bring Bentaleb back into the fold with a view to giving him the summer pre-season to show willing.
100%. Bentaleb is the closest thing we have to a Dembele understudy. With the latter picking up more and more niggling injuries as he gets older, there is no point in us trawling the market for over-priced back-up if we have a similar box-to-box engine already in house. I was gutted that he went out on loan this season as I think the occasions when we've been forced to play a midfield of Dier-Wanyama have really let us down this season. I sincerely hope that the bridges between him and the club can be rebuilt and that we welcome him back into the fold.
Let's not forget how phenomenal Bentaleb was in his first full season with us. Played with a maturity and composure well beyond his years at times. If he has genuinely turned a corner re. whatever caused him and Poch to fall out, then he should be given a chance to win his place back IMO.
Bentaleb's a special talent and a player who I said roughly 18 months ago could reach very high levels if he got his head down - I still stand by that. BUT, I think our team has now passed him by. By the end of this season it'll be the best part of two years since Nabs properly featured for his, he missed a lot of last season through injury and when he was fit he lost his place in the side and thus featured sporadically. There's too many players now in the CM roles in good form. Providing injuries don't take their toll, Dembele will still be in this side for another two or three years at least, while Wanyama, Dier and the ever improving Winks will all likely be ahead of Nabs should he return to the club, especially if this season ends well for us. That means Nabs could potentially return as 5th choice, after having played a full season of football at Schalke. From his and the club's point of view, it just won't work out. He'll want first team football next season wherever that may be and we can't realistically offer that.
With Dier now being used as a CB again, I feel that we need more 'muscle' in the center; especially with Dembele starting to pick up lots of niggling injuries. We have probably already overused Wanyama this season.
Very true, though that still isn't technically a first team spot for Nabs, it's more of a "fill in occasionally when Mousa or Vic are injured/ jaded" role, if he'd settle for that then I'd naturally welcome him back with open arms but I just can't see that being sufficient enough for someone of his quality. I think he himself would want a guarantee of being one of the first names on the team sheet wherever that may be, or at the very least the guarantee of having a spot to lose, not coming back to a side with a spot to try and win, if that makes sense?
In other loanee news, as hilarious as it is to see West Scam's huffing and puffing fail to keep Payet at their club, it does have a knock-on effect of dropping N'Jie down the pecking order as OM will obviously want to accommodate their major signing ...and heaven help whichever poor sod wants to buy one of OM's players this summer as they look to balance out the Payet fee.
Well it's a jolly good thing we bought N'koudou when we did then isn't it? What a bloody good signing he was.