As always during transfer season, West Ham insider ExWHUEmployee will be providing all the information you need to know about the Hammers’ transfer business and other snippets on The West Ham Way. Make sure you tune into Phoenix 98.0 FM Wednesday evenings for ‘The West Ham Way Radio Show’ – listen live here tomorrow from 7 PM.
In the first of hopefully many Q&A’s with Ex over the course of the summer, we sat down with the West Ham insider to discuss the club’s summer transfer plans and what he feels about some of the major talking points surrounding the club right now.
1) If reported figures are to be believed, West Ham spent in the region of £70m on transfers during the 2016/17 season. Do you think the club plan to go even bigger this season?
I wouldn’t say the budget is as big as £70m, well not that I have heard.
West Ham’s budget last season wasn’t initially £70m, it was inflated due to player sales, especially with Payet leaving which financed the arrivals of Snodgrass and Fonte that weren’t initially planned.
The same is expected this summer as well. Witt Nordtveit sold, Valencia and a few others likely to follow, not to mention multiple players leaving on loan which will free up wages, West Ham should have a boost to their already substantial budget this summer.
The figure that I have heard as the budget is slightly below what I think is required to really improve us so some shrewd deals are needed.
2) The club earmarked ~£20m of their budget last season for the permanent transfer of Simone Zaza which never materialised. This, in addition to the reported £25m the club received for the sale of Dimitri Payet in January, hands us, in theory at least, an extra £45m of funds to spend that wasn’t originally budgeted for. Are the club planning to use this cash on multiple big-ticket signings or make one big splash and supplement the squad with ‘lesser’ additions?
It really depends on who is available but I think the club have learnt from their mistakes last year and will be investing a bigger amount in at least one forward but probably two. We would pay over £20m for either Giroud, Iheanacho and Bathsuayi. I think we could also spend a fair amount on a new winger too.
3) West Ham have allowed Reece Oxford to leave on loan, with Reece Burke likely to follow. In your opinion, is this the right move, or should they have been given a look in the first-team squad?
I think it is the right move for Oxford who hasn’t really shown what he can do on a loan yet and I think he will learn a lot from playing in Germany.
I am, however, disappointed that Burke hasn’t been given his chance. I think he has proven himself on loan at Bradford before injuries affect his time at Wigan and he looked good in his few games in the Claret and Blue and I would have liked to have seen him stick around and feature maybe in some cup games and be in and around the squad. I suspect there will be a number of youngsters who will leave on loan this summer.
4) Havard Nordtveit has also left the club. He joins Jonathan Calleri, Simone Zaza and Alvaro Arbeloa on an ever-growing list of transfer failures from last summer. Do you think the club still have faith in Slaven Bilic to recruit the right players?
I think the board, Tony Henry and Bilic all have to take an element of responsibility for the failure of some of those signings. I think Bilic proved in his first season he can bring in talent so I see this year as a make or break one in the transfer market.
5) West Ham switched between multiple different formations last season. What do you think is their best formation moving forward? Also, do you think the club will recruit players to fit this system, seeing as last summer the players brought in were seen as more versatile options and haven’t really been successful?
I suspect that we have bought Zabaleta to play at right back which to me suggest we will be playing a 4-2-2-1-1 formation which is similar to what we played last year for the majority of games. Players will be brought in with this formation in mind. I think we also have the option of bringing in Byram and going for five at the back with wing backs if we need it.
6) Bilic’s future was a big talking point during last season – have the club made the right decision to stick with him?
I believe that they have. Despite what people on other social media tended to believe about me I backed the manager and felt he should have been given this season to prove himself.
Don’t get me wrong, he made a lot of mistakes last year especially with playing players out of position but I felt with the circumstances around the stadium and Payet he deserved a third season as a make or break one.
At the end of the day, 11th wasn’t a bad position in the end if you ignore some of the dreadful performances.
7) Where do you think the Hammers need to strengthen the most going into next season, and what are the plans to address them?
It has to be the forward position. We have lacked a great goalscorer for so long now. We are probably going as far back as Dean Ashton to the last one. The plans are to buy at least two top forwards and those names have been well and truly covered in my columns.
8) We start next season with three straight away games. Given our up and down form at the London Stadium last season, do you think this could be a positive thing?
It could be a good thing and away games are always more fun for the fans that go then the home fans so if we pick up some good results the season starts in a positive way.
That said though, it is harder to play away and we have some tough teams thrown in so personally, I don’t think it is a good thing. I would rather play Newcastle further into the season too when they have been found out a little more. Newly promoted teams usually start better than they finish.
9) Finally, Kelechi Iheanacho and Olivier Giroud are two hot names being linked with West Ham at the moment. Who do you think would be the best fit at the club?
I personally would take either of them. I think we are crying out for proven forwards and I wouldn’t turn my nose up at either. Given the choice out of the two, I think I would sign Kelechi but that is more down to his age and his potential development.
