It’s not been the cheeriest start to West Ham’s summer transfer window.
Following last year’s splurge that never quite lived up to the roughly £140million expenditure, the main transfer stories around the Hammers are the reports they are about to lose one of their best players, Mohammed Kudus.
But let’s not dwell on doom and gloom – well, we might have to a bit – and let’s see what West Ham can do to improve this season in the transfer market, after a disappointing 14th-place finish in the Premier League.
We put out the call for your questions on all things transfers, and here our West Ham expert JAMES SHARPE reveals everything you need to know. Let’s start (sorry) with the gloomier stuff…
Are Chelsea really in for Mohammed Kudus?
Let’s begin with a disclaimer: we all know what the transfer window is like.
Clubs on both sides want to spin a narrative on what’s happening as they jostle for bargaining power. Agents like to spin their own yarn to get their clients the best deal.
Mohammed Kudus wants to go, and West Ham are happy to let him leave – for the right price
The Hammers want £85m for their Ghana international, a price they may struggle to achieve
Chelsea goalkeeper Robert Sanchez has been discussed as part of a potential deal for Kudus
So, it’s not surprising that we’ve been hearing a range of similar but not identical tales about Chelsea and Mohammed Kudus in recent days. Chelsea offered a bunch of players plus cash for Kudus, West Ham offered Kudus to Chelsea, and so on.
Firstly, Kudus wants to go. Secondly, West Ham would like him to go, too, as he is the player most likely to drum up substantial cash for a summer.
As far as I understand it, there has been contact from Chelsea to register their interest in Kudus. While there hasn’t been an official bid tabled yet, there has been informal talk over acceptable figures. Let’s call them early verbal bids!
Chelsea players moving in the other direction has also come up in discussions, with the Hammers understood to have asked about the situations of Robert Sanchez and midfielder Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall.
It’s not just Chelsea, though. Mail Sport has been told that West Ham have received interest from several other clubs in Kudus both in the Premier League and abroad.
The Ghana international has an £85million release clause, that goes up to £125m for Saudi clubs, but in this reporter’s opinion, they will be lucky to get that much for a player who scored five goals in 35 appearances last season at a club who others know want to sell before they can buy.
Do we really have no money to spend?
The consistent message from West Ham in recent months is that the club need to sell players before they can buy to keep in line with PSR rules. A senior club source reiterated that once again to Mail Sport in recent days.
And while an article appeared in The Athletic this week that suggested West Ham were one of the Premier League clubs most safe from PSR and could lose up to £95m without falling foul of the regulations, that appears at odds with the club stance.
Jean-Clair Todibo’s loan move has been made permanent for nearly £33m
Chairman David Sullivan has seen the club spend the best part of £250m in the last two years
It’s always useful to preach poverty when heading into a negotiation, of course, and this is a story West Ham fans know only too well – but there is also reasons to see why the garden might not be quite as rosy down the stretch.
This is a club that’s spent the best part of £250m on players in the last two years, has an already bloated, ageing squad on big wages and is now a club that earned less prize money than in recent years and no longer has European football.
And don’t forget they’ve spent money before they have even started this summer now Jean-Clair Todibo’s loan move has been made permanent for nearly £33m.
Have negotiations progressed significantly with key targets?
Please don’t shoot the messenger, but: not really.
I spoke to a source this week who said that there was nothing major in the offing. Again, whether justified or not, it all comes down to the need (or desire) to sell before they buy.
There are plenty of discussions ongoing, some of them positive, but are still believed to be in early stages. Look, it is still the first week of June. The window has only been open a few days. I know we’re all impatient when it comes to transfers.
At the risk of being the bearer of even more depressing news, when I asked a senior source at the club this week if they were confident of some sales soon, they responded that they weren’t because other clubs were ‘short of money’.
Who are the realistic targets?
When it comes to West Ham and the transfer window, there’s always bundles of names bandied about during this silly season.
Club Brugge midfielder Raphael Onyedika is a realistic target. The 24-year-old central midfielder has impressed in the Belgian league
Brondby striker Mathias Kvistgaarden is also a target, with the Danish club looking at around £12m for him
I would be staggered if there was concrete interest in expensive, underperforming Manchester United winger Jadon Sancho, who was linked in recent days
Now that Graham Potter is in charge, though, it’s easier to get a sense of whether they make sense. Potter has made it clear he wants to lower the age of the squad, dominate games with attacking football with dynamic players and bring in players with resale value.
That’s why Club Brugge midfielder Raphael Onyedika is a realistic target. The 24-year-old central midfielder has impressed in the Belgian league and is entering into the last two years of his contract so West Ham could get him for a decent price. Talks so far are believed to have been positive.
Brondby striker Mathias Kvistgaarden is also a target. The Hammers have tracked him since the turn of the year, when Potter took charge, and at 23, there’s room for development and for resale with the Danish club looking for bids around £12m for a player who banged in 23 goals in all competitions.
Likewise, the strong recent links to 20-year-old Belgian striker Lucas Stassin at Saint-Etienne make sense. It’s a position West Ham need to strengthen, he fits the profile, has superb stats among strikers under the age of 21 in Europe’s top leagues and the French club are likely to accept a cut price of £18m following their relegation to Ligue 2.
That’s also why I would be staggered if there was concrete interest in expensive, underperforming Manchester United winger Jadon Sancho, who was linked in recent days.
Why is Graham Potter on holiday when the window is open?
Relax, he’s not anymore. There’s been plenty of grumbling on social media since the window opened that the West Ham boss was on holiday following the close of the season and not putting the hard yards in negotiating deals.
Potter insisted he was going to be heavily involved in the recruitment process and said that even when on holiday he would always be a ‘phone call or Zoom away’.
Give the man a break. And anyway he’s leaving much of the heavy lifting in the hands of his head of recruitment Kyle Macauley, who was described to Mail Sport this week as a ‘planner’ and ‘not a lastminute.com kind of guy’.
Graham Potter insisted he was going to be heavily involved in the recruitment process and said that even when on holiday he would always be a ‘phone call or Zoom away’
If that’s the case, they better not leave it until the end of July to get some players out the door!
Is there anyone who is not for sale to free up funds?
Not really. In the words of former wrestler Ted Dibiase, ‘Everyone’s got a price’.
Of course, Kudus is the main asset likely to be sold but Potter would be open to listening to offers for nearly all of his squad. Emerson, Edson Alvarez, Konstantinos Mavropanos could all make way if interest arises.
And look, if someone came in with a bid of £200m for Jarrod Bowen, the club would be hard-pressed to turn it down. But that’s highly unlikely and, naturally, Potter would much rather his talisman and club captain stay to take the club forward next season. So, to all intents and purposes, you can say he’s not for sale.
Bowen is understood to be happy at West Ham (you have to be when you’ve just married into the Dyer family!) and his contract runs until 2030.
Who are West Ham’s goalkeeper targets?
There is interest in Chelsea goalkeeper Djordje Petrovic
Freiburg goalkeeper Noah Atubolu, who has played against West Ham for Freiburg, is also on the Hammers’ radar this summer
The club are said to have held early talks with Aaron Ramsdale, who Southampton are eager to get off their wage bill after relegation
West Ham were interested in ex-Liverpool keeper Caoimhin Kelleher before he made the decision to sign for Brentford.
Potter still wants a new keeper with Lukasz Fabianski leaving and Alphonse Areola having showed too many weaknesses this season to be the ideal first choice, especially under a manager who wants his team to be better in possession and build from the back.
As well as discussing Sanchez with Chelsea, who worked with Potter during his time in west London, there is interest in fellow Blues keeper Djordje Petrovic. Freiburg keeper Noah Atubolu is also on the radar.
The club are said to have held early talks with Aaron Ramsdale, who Southampton are eager to get off their wage bill after relegation. Again, though, if Saints want £20m for him, West Ham will need to get some players out the door first.
