I appreciate that we may need to sell before we buy. But in terms of who might be sold (or loaned out), the noises exist around KWP, ABK, Charles, Alcarez, Sulemana and Onuachu. I'm also assuming that we're open to selling Lis, Bree and/or Mara - but given that any funds would likely be minor, they are hardly a priority to sell. Of all these names, KWP is an outlier because of his contract situation. If he had more than one year left, we presumably would be very against selling him. So if you put KWP to one side, what do all the other names have in common? They've all been recruited under SR's ownership. (And that's in addition to the likes of DCC and Orsic, who are also SR signings that we've already sold on.) That makes it very difficult for me to have any sympathy for them, or indeed to have any faith in what might still be to come.
Yes, it's a fair point The reason to be frustrated with SR is not because this window is proving difficult, the reason to be annoyed is because the reason this window is restrictive is because of what a dog's dinner they made of the 2022/23 season under Shields and Ankersen's combined transfer shambles
Johnstone for £10m is already cheap given the difference that he would make to us. It is such an important position that probably was the difference between automatic promotion and the play-offs last season and would greatly improve the odds of us avoiding relegation this time.
West Ham making some decent signings. Shows what you can do when selling a homegrown player for £100 million plus and have a state funded stadium. Still think Ings may end up with us by the end of August.
I like Johnstone as a goalkeeper, but I don't really know what he's like with his feet. It's not the sort of thing which you can easily judge on highlights, and the likes of WBA and Palace aren't exactly known for possession based football. If he could fit into Russ' style, then yes please.
The club seem pretty committed to Bazunu which is why I don't think we will be spending £10m on Johnstone. A loan would be much more realistic. My personal preference would be a loan for Ramsdale with an obligation to buy if we survive. But neither Arsenal or Ramsdale might actually want that.
That would be decent. Signed for £9m in 2022 and sold for £12.8m to £14.5m two years later after only 26 appearances
Whatever happens I think it’s at the stage where our loan slots need to be used on bonafide starting players. Had a few links with young wingers and that feels a waste when we have Edozie, SAA and Dibling. Goalkeeper, Striker & an aggressive midfield type the priorities for me.
Hopefully putting a sell on clause as well as if he stays fit could be worth 2-3 times more In the future.
I’m interested to see how the likes of Mara, Sulemana and ABK do for the the rest of their careers (if they all leave this window). Lots of talk of how toxic the atmosphere was last season (which they may have caused/contributed to of course) so be interesting to see how they do elsewhere, Sulemana especially who joined midway through a terrible season. Was reading the Saint Kamaldeen thread a month or two ago and is quite a good read with hindsight, especially after his first few performances for us
My issue with Sulemana is there's almost never been any real end product in his career. I can't be bothered to look it up again but I think statistically he's had one good season in the Danish(?) league and that's about it.
As I’ve said multiple times and boring people with it, he has all the tools, it’s just whether he can put it together. He’s still only 22, was 20 when we signed him so not like 1 season is too bad at that age. I said about his directness when he first joined (and also in the first handful of games in the Championship before he got injured) and that disappeared when he came back. I thought it was a coaching issue but Edozie is still direct so maybe not that, unless he has misunderstood. Could be an attitude thing or a laziness thing who knows, but as I say he has all the tools to be a very good player if he can put them together
I think their signings are strong players. Instant first-teamers. What goes against them for me is that West Ham don't mind spending big on players that will have no re-sale value. To me, that's not the best model as they'll ultimately start sliding as the money runs low. They'd surely have to hit Champions League to be able to cover the shortfall of players that just cost and cannot be recouped against.
Yep, looking at who they've bought they would basically need to sell Kudus for big money, but even then, they paid about £40m for him
Maybe. The other point is it was one season in a poor league several years ago and he doesn't seem to have improved since. I also suspect 22 isn't that young but I'm not sure. Someone should do a study of player development and look at how top level players were performing at different ages. Do many attacking players come good after 22 (for example) or are they generally performing at a high level by then? Or maybe that already exists and I just don't know about it.
