January 2022 Transfer Window

[hammerman11]

Lloyd Kelly in the summer would be ideal fir us but git to be 30m

So loan deal fir Philips or Caleta-car or diallo

Striker wise traore fir 15 -20m towards the end of the window
Or holzek on loan

If we don't bring anyone in we will fall short which would be such a waste

[Bond Holder 59]

The thing is, I cannot imagine him getting in even if he comes here and goes on a tear again. It wasn’t enough to get him into the euros, and not withstanding Rashford and Sancho’s form or lack thereof, I think they still (rightly or wrongly get picked before a Lingard who isn’t at Man U, and honestly maybe Bowen would be picked before him as well…

At this point he may be entirely focused on the money, unless he just wants to be playing again.

Ned,
I agree. Jessie is the wrong age for England to embrace. We have so many young attacking options that going backwards is unnecessary. Not saying he’s too old for West Ham, but he may not be a guaranteed starter in say six months.
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[alantaylorsleftfoot]

Finally able to log in. I am not surprised at all about the links to Buchanan. I’ve been saying he’s a classic Moyes signing since the summer. He’s out of contract in June, and Derby are proper skint. I’m not sure if the new transfer embargo helps or hurts our chances of signing him, Buchanan is a very promising left back, capped at every level for England except the senior team, but he’s by no means the finished article. For comparison, Lloyd Kelly was a fair bit better at the same age playing as a part time left back for Bristol City. Now Kelly is easily a £20M+ player. Derby want £5M for Buchanan which seems a tad optimistic for a championship player out of contract at the end of the season, who hasn’t played for 6 weeks because of a bruised knee. Forrest Had a £2m bid rejected; if Derby can sell Buchanan with the embargo, £3.5M should get him. I’d be all in favour of him, because as soon as he adjusts to the premier league he will be a much better option defensively than Arthur.

If we are to sign a left back he is exactly the type we should go for. We already have a senior left back, one of the best in the Premier League, we need a talented promising back up. The bargain/ low risk nature of the likely fee makes it a no brainer and undoubtedly appeals to Moyes. It is the most plausible transfer rumour.

I'm still perplexed by the lack of trust in Longelo who appears to have all of the assets to become a top player. He desperately needs to go out on loan for the rest of the season. Moyes and the rest of the coaching staff clearly dont think he is ready or possibly even not good enough.

I would live us to sign Kelly, but this is either going to happen last minute or in the summer if at all. Is the Kilman suggestion just that or are there press rumours? He's the best young English left footed centre back playing in the premier league.

[funky chicken]

The positions we currently have the least ‘adequate’ cover at the moment is:

- Centre half;
- Left back;
- Central midfield;
- Right wing.

We have 2 solid goalkeepers (3 if you add Randolph to the equation), 3 good right backs, Lanzini, Fornals, Vlasic and Benrahma can all play in attacking midfield. The last 3, along with Masuaku (at a push) can play on the left. And we have Antonio and Bowen who can play up front.

Meanwhile at centre half we have Zouma (pretty much), Dawson and Diop to choose from. Both Dawson and Diop were deemed not good enough to play regularly in the Premier League. Hence why Moyes signed Zouma in the first place. And he said so himself he wanted 4 centre halves to choose from. If Zouma breaks down again we are sweating over Diop and Dawson every week. And Dawson himself is allegedly already playing with an injury!

We’ve seen how we’ve coped without Cresswell in the team. Even when he has been in the team our left side has always been weak defensively.

If Rice &/or Soucek are missing we only have a retiring and currently injured Noble, and Kral who Moyes doesn’t seem to want to play in the League even if his life depended on it!

Finally, on the right if Bowen isn’t playing there who is? Yarmolenko who is out of contract soon.

[Geoff Hurts]

Finally able to log in.

I don't know if this will work for everyone, but I couldn't log in, so I opened an incognito window on Chrome and, hey presto, I was straight in.

[w6hammer]

If we loan a CB this window, they have to improve on Dawson. Diop has shown quality. Dawson was only really signed as a stopgap in the first place and plays like one too often.

It shouldn't be hard to do that - the issue is whether any of the many CBs out there which meet that brief are available.

Ideally, left sided.

Very harsh on Dawson that.He has been outstanding value for money and never let's us down.We know his limitations and that he is not a "footballing" centre back,but the guy gives everything in every game putting his body on the line and playing through niggles and small injuries. A real man and if he wasnt around for the last month or so we would have really noticed his absence.

[hammers92]

I don't know if this will work for everyone, but I couldn't log in, so I opened an incognito window on Chrome and, hey presto, I was straight in.

Ah, my porn browser.

[spod]

Talk of Traore makes me nervous.
He’s like a great big mastiff puppy. Great fun and very entertaining but you wouldn’t want to actually own one.

[hammerman11]

Dawson has been brilliant fir us but needs a rest that's why we need another CB ASAP

Lloyd Kelly 25m just get him in now
Striker wise God knows but nit gabigol, we don't need a flash prima do a

[Bubbles Fortuna]

Dawson has been brilliant fir us but needs a rest that's why we need another CB ASAP

Lloyd Kelly 25m just get him in now
Striker wise God knows but nit gabigol, we don't need a flash prima do a

Why does Dawson need a rest?

Why would Bournemouth sell their best defender when they're pushing for promotion?

And how on earth do you know Gabigol is a 'Primmadonna'?

[Ding]

Moyes used to have a database of information on hundreds of players he was monitoring at Everton - all categorised and sorted in accordance to ability, character, strength, weakness, availability etc - and updated constantly. This allowed him to be very precise and deliberate about squad additions over the medium to long term.

Although his recruitment department at West Ham is relatively new, it is difficult to imagine him not having at least a similar (albeit more rudimentary) system already in place. As such, it is more than likely he has long identified all the positions he needs to strengthen and a shortlist of players who he wants to fill these positions. It is in this light that I interpreted his statement that we know who we want but "they are not available or we can't get them (yet)".

It is also in this light that I expect that we will continue to have "make do" signings for one or two more windows while the long term targets become available.

Looked this way, assuming he gets to keep the core of the current squad intact for another season or two, we will not see the true potential of this squad until next season, possibly the season after next.

In the mean time, I expect us to continue to be top 4-6 contenders, regardless of Rice's decision to commit or not. Consistently challenging at the top end of the table is not something we are used to, but I think we will get used to it.

The club has already made the most important signing in decades, and that is David Moyes.

[hammers92]

Talk of Traore makes me nervous.
He’s like a great big mastiff puppy. Great fun and very entertaining but you wouldn’t want to actually own one.

I have this feeling it would all click with us. I get the concern, but just a feeling.

[Bubbles Fortuna]

I have this feeling it would all click with us. I get the concern, but just a feeling.

He's a bit like Lingard in that I've always had this feeling of dread that he would end up with us.

Lingard worked out rather well so maybe my feelings of dread have some more strength to them than I first thought.

[BigFatSam]

Traore has 20 goals in 256 senior games. He is not and will never be a striker. He can’t finish, he genuinely has 1/2 one on ones per game and he just can’t finish them.

Can’t believe people think he’s the answer to our lack of strikers.

[hammer1975]

I may be an outlier but I don’t see as much similarity between Antonio and Traore as others seem to. Certainly not in the attributes that we would benefit from anyway. I can’t see how or where Traore would fit in to the current 11 and not seen anything to suggest he could be converted to striker.

[ironilunga]

Looked this way, assuming he gets to keep the core of the current squad intact for another season or two, we will not see the true potential of this squad until next season, possibly the season after next.

I very much like the way Moyes does his business. He seems very methodical, doesn’t want to make mistakes and is constantly looking to improve the squad. I don’t, however, agree that this squad will necessarily mature further in two seasons time. I actually think that this season is the one where we need to grasp the nettle and try and win something. I think it’s ever so likely that Rice leaves in the Summer and if Liverpool come calling for Bowen and he wants to go then I think it would be hard to keep him. We are not immune to being picked off by the big boys and I really think before that happens the club and Moyes need to bolster the squad to give us a chance if a bit of glory this season.

[bubbles1966]

Traore has 20 goals in 256 senior games. He is not and will never be a striker. He can’t finish, he genuinely has 1/2 one on ones per game and he just can’t finish them.

Can’t believe people think he’s the answer to our lack of strikers.

No one will ever know unless someone tries him as a centre forward.

One thing is absolutely for sure, the bloke has so much pace that he would terrify centre halves if he was running at or beyond them.

If he is coming from a position less deep than normal, less wide than normal, then he is likely to get into many more goal-scoring positions, just as Arnautovic, Antonio and Bowen have all shown having initially been consigned to "not a striker", "hasn't got the instinct" boxes by many beforehand.

Some one needs to try it with him. If it works, they'll hit the motherlode with counter attacking football.

He strikes me as a player who creates a level of chaos and fear for the opposition and space for colleagues that will never get truly reflected in statistics.

Spurs are trying to blag him on a loan with an option.

[Albie Beck]

In terms of finishing, Lingard and Traore are polar opposites.

[Bond Holder 59]

No one will ever know unless someone tries him as a centre forward.

Some one needs to try it with him. If it works, they'll hit the motherlode with counter attacking football.

He strikes me as a player who creates a level of chaos and fear for the opposition and space for colleagues that will never get truly reflected in statistics.

Hi Bubbles,
I cannot help but think that multiple managers across his career would have been able to see the potential impact of using him that way, and yet, none of them have done it. Unless of course they have seen in training the result and it was unacceptable. Chaos and goals might not be a good mix.
What do I know. Personally, it’s a no from me, but yes I trust in Moyes.
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[spod]

I may be an outlier but I don’t see as much similarity between Antonio and Traore as others seem to. Certainly not in the attributes that we would benefit from anyway. I can’t see how or where Traore would fit in to the current 11 and not seen anything to suggest he could be converted to striker.

Exactly. Antonio was converted from a goal-scoring forward into a goal-scoring centre forward. People say Moyes could work his magic on Traore as if it literally is magic.
I’m sure coaches have encouraged Traore to practise his finishing throughout his career.
So far, nothing.