January 2022 Transfer Window

[Puff Daddy]

Mesaque Dju was also 17 when he first signed Pro forms with us. His contract is up in the summer

[Aceface]

Groan. Off to lunch before the Vickery mention sets off the *didn't rate Lanzini what does he know* post.

The longevity of that urban legend is remarkable given he praised Lanzini in it and accurately pointed out the thing that he's been regularly guilty of (being a bit lightweight).

[HammerMan2004]

Tim Vickery appraisal of the gamble that would be Barbosa...

https://www.espn.com/soccer/soccer-tran ... th-america

Wasn't the noise this morning that Moyes has already ruled this out?

[Rust]

If Cresswell and Zouma are back in February, I don't see much point in paying inflated January fees for players that might not be Moyes' first choice.

He's going to wait and see until after the Leeds game in the league before making any moves on the defence, imo.

Cabral would be great from what I can tell.

[Boleyn_Hammer]

Wasn't the noise this morning that Moyes has already ruled this out?

I could be thinking too deeply into this (suspect I am) but the Barbosa links could be a ploy by the Club to speed up the Cabral deal if Basel are digging their heels in.

Could make sense as Cabral is Brazilian so will be fully aware of the goings on/media reports in his home Country especially when it involves a club he could potentially be moving to.

[steveyrockstar]

Barbosa sounds like the South American equivalent of Florin Raducioiu. Hopefully ends up at Newcastle if his old Inter manager is to be trusted.

[StevePottsGoalsReel]

We’ve got Marshall, Callum Marshall
I just don’t think you understand
He’s super Moyes man
He’s better than signing no one
We’ve got Callum Marshall

Rumours coming in that Jack told his dad to "get Martial in pronto" over Christmas dinner at the Sullivan gaff.

[Ozza]

Anyone know if Cabral would get a work permit here?

Batigoal is a no from me, I rate Vickerys opinions

[Bubbles Fortuna]

Mesaque Dju was also 17 when he first signed Pro forms with us. His contract is up in the summer

What's your point?

Collisson was 16 when he signed for us, Rice was 14.

[funky chicken]

I actually think Diop is more dangerous to the team than Masuaku. But it can change game by game basis!
Also Masuaku isn't currently 1st choice in his position (would be johnson).

I would 100% say Diop. Yes, Masuaku isn’t the best defensively. But then again, most modern fullbacks aren’t. It wasn’t so long ago a lot of our fans were saying Cresswell and Fredericks were 2 of the “worst fullbacks in the League”. All I kept seeing after lockdown and football resumed was how bad Cresswell was at stopping crosses from coming into the box. Guess who ironically was playing centre half alongside Ogbonna for those final few games!

So many fans on here for that summer window thread was saying we needed a new left back. Moyes saw it differently. He saw we wasn’t defending well enough in our box, or heading the ball away. Hence the bids for Tarkowski and the eventual signing of Dawson.

[Aceface]

How big an improvement is Digne on Cresswell?

How does it compare to , for example, Tarkowski/Caleta Car/Phillips/Milenkovic etc over Diop or Dawson?

Which change is likely to deliver the most additional points?

I know 90% of the opinion on this is probably a CB improves us more – and maybe its right – but Cresswell is the one constant in a team that has lopsidedly leaked goals on the left side for most of this decade.

Seeing the right side get locked up even tighter the second a half-decent signing like Coufal turned up makes me pine to try something similar on the left. Admittedly that's probably not Digne.

It's remarkable we haven't spent money on a left back since 2016 – six years ago. The position on the team with the longest stretch of non-improvement by a mile.

[Ozza]

Bowen makes a huge difference defensively on the right, we just haven't had that sort of cover LM which is why Cresswell gets exposed

[Aceface]

Fornals has done the same hand-holding bodyguard job on the left pretty regularly.

Cresswell is fine but is due an upgrade, let alone Arthur.

[Burnley Hammer]

If we replace Cresswell then it has to be with someone very good on the ball. A smart player who retains possession under pressure. We're missing that at the moment with Cresswell out. Johnson is sound defensively but doesn't look anywhere as near as comfortable with the ball as Cresswell.

[NWhammer]

If Cresswell and Zouma are back in February, I don't see much point in paying inflated January fees for players that might not be Moyes' first choice.

He's going to wait and see until after the Leeds game in the league before making any moves on the defence, imo.

Cabral would be great from what I can tell.

Doesn't Diop only have 18 months left on his contract? I think if we have an opportunity to move Diop on for anything remotely close to what we paid for him then we should. If he does go onto to be the defender we thought he would be in his first season with us then fair play to him but nothing suggests he will do that here.

Zouma and Cresswell may be back in februry but every window is an opportunity to improve. The Lingard signing and also the failure to replace Haller proved that last season.

At the start of the season all the talk was 'West Ham won't be able to cope with the league and europe.' 20 games in we're 1pt off 4th and in the round of 16. The time to invest is now, bring in some quality, really mix it with the 'big boys' and see where we end up.

[westlondonhammer]

I actually think Diop is more dangerous to the team than Masuaku. But it can change game by game basis!
Also Masuaku isn't currently 1st choice in his position (would be johnson).

But either way we can't be basing a £25m purchase for either CB or LB based on injuries for the next 6 weeks.

Obviously it will come down to who is available

I think a combination of Diop and Masuaku is the bigger issue. Diop looked better with Johnson there on Saturday despite Masuaku dealing better than Johnson with Ayew when he came on.

Either way, Digne is better than Cresswell so it wouldn't be a purchase for 6 weeks but for the next 4 or 5 years. Having Cresswell step in for European games, cup games, to play LCB of a back 3 would be a nice alternative to have and not a problem for me.

Digne is available... Dinge is reasonably speaking, the best LB in world football we can get in (who isn't playing for a bigger team). If we can get him we really should, irrespective of the need to bring in a CB right now.

[Ozza]

What is the issue with Digne and Benetiz, what happened?

[S-H]

What is the issue with Digne and Benetiz, what happened?

Digne didn't tip him at lunch..

[funky chicken]

Bowen makes a huge difference defensively on the right, we just haven't had that sort of cover LM which is why Cresswell gets exposed

Bowen does, absolutely. Then again, even when Bowen hasn’t been playing on the right I don’t recall too many people saying Coufal or Johnson need more help defensively. Meanwhile game by game there are constant debates over whether Fornals needs to play on the left to protect Cresswell, or whether we can get away with Benrahma playing there. Quite telling.

[Turns to Stone]

If Ogbonna and Zouma were currently fit, I would definitely be keen for us to go all in on Digne. But given our current situation, and how much Ben Johnson has improved over the last year or so, I think we probably need to prioritise Ogbonna's long term replacement as opposed to Cresswell's.

I'm expecting a maximum of two signings this Jan. A centre-back and either a striker or Lingard.