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Just like London buses, you wait four weeks for something to happen and then four - or even more! - arrive at the same time.

It seems to be the same with new players as technical director Tim Steidten embarks on a trolley dash to revamp our squad with just a fortnight until the Premier League starts, although what that team looks like against Aston Villa on the opening day is now anybody’s guess.




The irony is that with new coach Julen Lopetegui being asked to produce an upgrade in style, much more pleasing on the eye tactics and more youthful, hungry players, it is the last couple of signings that intrigue us all.

Niclas Fullkrug, 31, a current German international and something of a cult hero back home, seems not to fit that masterplan being undertaken by Steidten. Similarly Guido Rodriguez, 30, a World Cup winner with Argentina and a free agent from Real Betis after a planned move to Barcelona collapsed when Xavi decided quit the Nou Camp.

I have no issue with either player, quality above what we have, but they're not the sort of player we usually sign.

Fullkrug, who had a long association with Steidten at Werder Bremen, looks right up our street. His nickname back home is 'Gap' because of the teeth missing that have been knocked out while playing, I mean, he’s a hero already.

He’s here because he knows Dortmund have already signed his replacement, Serhou Guirassy from Stuttgart and Niclas didn’t want to be on the bench and probably lose his international spot at this stage of his career. He’s a late developer anyway and he has been discussing his future, it seems, with Steidten for some while and now he’s got a four year contract , and a new challenge.

Dortmund fans rate him but doubt he has the technique for the level they are at. That doesn’t mean he won’t be good enough for us. He has power and is a consistent finisher, and apart from Jarrod Bowen, that’s what we lacked last term.

And as for Rodriguez, I feel persuading him to come to east London is a real coup. He will reform his partnership with Edson Alvarez from their days in Mexico. He’s won the World Cup and Copa America with Argentina, that’s priceless experience to add to our midfield. He was very much a squad player, being used just once during the World Cup finals in 2022, and likewise once in the recent Copa America.

Betis, with whom he won the Copa del Rey, were desperate not to lose him, but he ran down his contract with the intention of joining Barca. Steidten and Lopetegui have been very quick to act to get him to London instead.




It’s fair to say our fans have been a bit shaken by the last few days. Usually our transfer windows have plenty of hot air, ghost offers and then nothing, with pretty much all of us going to bed long before the window slams shut... this one will be 31 August, if you want to make a note of it.

Max Kilman, Wes Foderingham and Luis Guilherme were already through the door - with something in order of £90m spent - and then nothing as deal after deal collapsed. But come last weekend, there were four more on the cards.

The best young forward in the Championship, Crysencio Summerville (£25m), then Fullkrug from Champions League finalists Dortmund (£22m+), with free transfer Rodriguez next and Aaron Wan-Bissaka seemingly just around the corner (about £15m) if Manchester United can stop being their usual difficult selves.

Now that all sounds a lot for a club who owner David Sullivan is forever claiming is broke. If all that comes off we will have spent £130m or so, on paper. Now we’ve only pulled in about £42m from outgoings, presently - 19 players from all levels have left, freed, loaned or sold.

But we all know by now that those fees are spread over several seasons, depending on contract lengths and of course the chances of them all seeing out those contracts are extremely limited. And we have taken out another of those payday loans, this time from Barclays at £100m. With not having spent a penny in January, there’s always some left in the bank, surely?

But with all this outlay, and still another centre back needed - crucial with the state of the defence in pre-season friendlies and the issues surrounding Kurt Zouma - there has to be further outgoings. You have to wonder who would pay money for the captain with one year left on his contract and such obvious injury concerns.

There’s some tough decisions coming, surely. James Ward-Prowse, Maxwel Cornet, Nayef Aguerd, Danny Ings and Tomas Soucek could be the likely candidates. Who can see Sullivan agreeing to a £70m plus deficit on transfers?

Either way, you can’t see Lopetegui walking out on us the way he did Wolves last season. And the intent seems to be to get back into Europe as quick as possible. That’s why I don’t go with the theory that this new management team should be given some leeway, a bit of time to bed in. Mid-table, I’ve heard suggested.

Sorry, in this highly competitive league and with this much money being spent, we have to hit the ground running. Nothing less will do - and it seems the new management can see that.

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