The chaos continues as Hammers face a busy 36 hours

After three resounding defeats in a row, having conceded 11 goals, Graham potters West ham are in turmoil. After 12 consecutive seasons in the premiership, West Ham have rarely looked more like relegation fodder.  Mercifully, this disastrous start to season has spurred the board into action with the current level of movement akin to Brick Lane market!

Within the space of 24 hours in midweek the Hammers captured two mobile midfielders to add bite to their misfiring midfield with Mateus Fernandes arriving from Southampton for £38m while Soungoutou Magassa joined from Monaco for £17m. Addition of young, pacey and aggressive talent is much needed as Tomas Soucek’s ability is not based on pace whilst the ageing James Ward Prowse lacks the mobility West ham need in midfield right now.

However, those signings have left the hammers rather cash- strapped and rumours about a possible exit of midfield playmaker Lucas Paqueta to Aston Villa or possibly Spurs have upset the Hammers Apple cart as Paqueta is the one truly creative player in the squad and would surely thrive in a more dynamic midfield. Meanwhile,  Everton maintain a keen interest in bringing Tomas Soucek to Merseyside for a reunion with David Moyes. The Czech star brings an aerial presence  and goalscoring contribution that would be sorely missed.

At the back, Nayef Aguerd looks set to move to France with the possibility that Charlie Cresswell will move in the opposite direction to add some beef to what has been a feeble defence. The former Leeds defender is an impressive young talent who could be the player the Hammers hoped the off-form Max Kilman would be.

On top of all that activity, latest rumours suggest that West Ham are seriously looking at bringing in an attack-minded midfielder with Fabio Vieira of Arsenal in the spotlight. However, his time at Arsenal has been blighted by injuries and the Portuguese star has managed just two goals in thirty three appearances since his arrival at the  Gunners in 2022. With Summerville back soon Vieira would likely struggle to get game time and hardly seems worth an estimated £20m pay out right now.

The summer transfer window closes in England on Monday at 7pm. Buckle up because it's bound to get choppy over the next thirty six hours. In the meantime, the hammers make their way to the city ground.Looking for their first points of the season against Nottingham forest. 

Forest have experienced turmoil of their own at a board level.This season , with continued uncertainty about the future of manager Nuno Espirito Santo and have not kept a clean sheet in their last ten premiership games , but nonetheless have started the season strongly with four points from two games. No doubt , Chris Wood will be licking his lips in anticipation of scoring yet again against a leaky west ham defence. 

You’d take a draw!

KO is 2pm.

C’mon U Irons!!!

What on earth are the FA up to?

 

As the Lucas Paqueta case trundles on and on, ever closer to the start of the new season, you'd have to wonder what on earth the FA are up to. 

The 27-year-old talismanic West Ham midfielder  has seen two years of his life taken up by the FA investigation which still has not reached a conclusion. Given the relatively low burden of proof which for this investigation is of ‘probable likelihood’ rather than ‘beyond reasonable doubt’, it is baffling that the investigation remains unconcluded!

Meanwhile, the financial repercussions of this bungled process have been considerable with West Ham missing out on an £80 million transfer, while the ongoing process has clearly affected Paqueta’s on field performances.

It seems clear at this point that this saga will run and run. The FA really should follow this up with a further investigation into their management of this whole process, while it's hard to think that the powers that be at West Ham would not be unreasonable in considering legal action against the FA

who really haven't handled this well. The very fact that the process has dragged on this long suggests that evidence to back the FA allegations is at best and unlikely to be enough to justify the profound impact this has had upon the club and the player himself. 

Meanwhile, it remains ominously silent on the transfer front despite West Ham's clear need to build upon a squad which is currently not well suited to playing within the Graham Potter system.

In short, the whole business has been a total shambles  and it will be a relief for all concerned when we finally get back to playing football!