David Sullivan – CaughtOffside

West Ham set to battle Man United for €25m-rated Bayern ace

Jason Pettigrove — Tue, 23 Jul 2024 06:49:22 +0000

Both West Ham and Man United have been active in the transfer market this summer, and with a few weeks left before the window slams shut, there’s an expectation that more signings will be made.

The right-back position is evidently one where both clubs are looking to strengthen and it may well be that the future of Aaron Wan-Bissaka has a defining effect on both clubs before the 2024/25 season begins.

It’s understood that the Hammers are interested in the former Crystal Palace man, however, as Sky Sports Germany note, both the East Londoners and the Red Devils have been in talks with Bayern Munich over Noussair Mazraoui.

West Ham to battle with Man United over Mazraoui

The outlet note that the Bundesliga giants would be prepared to accept between €20m and €25m for Mazraoui’s services, a price that is well within reach for both Premier League sides.

If the Hammers aren’t successful in landing Mazraoui, then Wan-Bissaka will be a reasonable enough alternative.

Man United would certainly sell the player to the East Londoners if they themselves can land the Bayern ace.

West Ham and Man United want Noussair Mazraoui

At present, it isn’t clear what the 26-year-old Moroccan’s plans are, and indeed whether he favours Old Trafford over the London Stadium.

Once his decision is made, then the right-back merry-go-round will start to turn.

From Julen Lopetegui’s point of view, West Ham appear to have had their fingers in a number of pies transfer wise, but have only managed to get three deals over the line so far.

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Man United have very evidently puffed out their chests and have bought some of the biggest names available in the market so far.

In essence at present, West Ham want to be a team that are going places whilst Man United clearly are.

Signing Mazraoui won’t make or break the window for either club, though it will put down a marker.

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West Ham urged to show ‘common sense’ and sign striker with 36 Premier League goals

CJ — Sat, 20 Jul 2024 11:22:23 +0000

West Ham have been urged to show ‘common sense’ by signing Brentford striker Ivan Toney this summer.

The 28-year-old striker has been the subject of much transfer speculation over recent months, with the likes of Arsenal, Manchester United and Tottenham heavily linked with his signature.

Brentford are thought to be demanding £60m for Toney — who has 36 Premier League goals in 85 appearances to his name and was part of England’s squad for Euro 2024 — which is putting some potential suitors off.

However, Darragh MacAnthony — the owner of Toney’s former club, Peterborough United, where he scored 49 goals in 94 appearances across all competitions between 2018 and 2020 — believes West Ham’s David Sullivan may be waiting in the shadows to try a cut-price approach for Toney.

MacAnthony even believes it would be demonstrating a lack of ‘common sense’ if Sullivan and West Ham didn’t make an approach for the striker.

“I think for me, the betting man [in me] would say, knowing what David Sullivan is like at West Ham, he’s always liked Ivan Toney,” he told talkSPORT.

“He’ll try and basically get him at a dropped-down bargain offer from Brentford.

“And I know the Brentford people and they’d be like ‘no chance’. But I know Sullivan will try, and if he had any common sense he would.

“It would be the best signing West Ham have made in 12 years, instead of a foreign striker for £70million who couldn’t hit a barn door.”

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West Ham fear deadly duo could be on their way out of the club

Jason Pettigrove — Thu, 18 Jul 2024 11:04:04 +0000

With Julen Lopetegui installed as new West Ham first-team coach, exciting times could be ahead at the London Stadium.

Though David Moyes got the Hammers into Europe for three seasons in a row, his style of football was never really appreciated by the Irons faithful.

Knowledge that the Spaniard prefers a more attacking, front-foot way of playing should certainly see initial buy in from those that pay their hard-earned each week, and Lopetegui’s brief will remain simple.

Play attractive, winning football.

West Ham concerned that Kudus and Paqueta could leave

That might be easier said than done if both Mo Kudus and Lucas Paqueta leave for the Saudi Pro League, however.

According to TeamTalk, Al Nassr have contacted the agents of both players to understand the conditions they would need to meet to ensure the pair make the move from the best league in the world to the 68th best (TeamForm).

With money seemingly no object to the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) who are bankrolling the Pro League, it wouldn’t be a surprise to learn that the Hammers hierarchy are worried.

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Collymore: West Ham finally moving towards big club status

Jason Pettigrove — Thu, 11 Jul 2024 13:39:09 +0000

It’s been a long time coming, but London’s sleeping giant, West Ham United, finally appear to be on the verge of something special according to Stan Collymore.

Though David Moyes was never the most popular manager with the fan base principally because his style of football was anathema to all they hold dear, he did get the Hammers into Europe for three seasons running, and brought them their first major silverware in over four decades.

The hire of Julen Lopetegui potentially takes them to a different level altogether, and if the Spaniard can hit the ground running at the London Stadium, there’s no telling just how far the East Londoner’s can go this season.

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Collymore certainly believes that the club have turned a corner.

“I think that we got it absolutely spot on in this column previously about West Ham having to make sure that Lopetegui’s ego, which is big, is assuaged and pandered to,” he said to CaughtOffside for his exclusive column.

“The fact that he wanted a player that he worked with at Wolves in Max Kilman, and West Ham got him straightaway, tells you that the club have effectively said ‘we’ll back you.’

“So that’s a really positive sign and it’s one step forward and not two steps back, but another one forward for a change.

“Like other clubs, they will get mentioned and linked with several players over the next few weeks, but I think that Lopetegui has his wish list, and they’ve got target number one.

West Ham United manager Julen Lopetegui

“The manager will already feel like he can walk into the office and start to put his plans for pre-season together, knowing that the West Ham board are going to put their money where their mouth is.

“They did put in a lower bid for Kilman which was turned down, but the West Ham of old would’ve walked away. Not anymore.

“They’ve got a very good, top 10 squad already, and on the back of the Euros if they want to tap into the whole ‘West Ham won the World Cup’ thing, they all of a sudden become a more attractive proposition for players.”

For far too long now, it’s always been a case of what might’ve been for West Ham.

They’ve had a good standard of players in their starting XI but not too much in the way of strength in depth.

Their Achilles heel has always been lifting their performance levels against supposed ‘smaller’ clubs too.

Beat a top team one week, lose against a relegation-threatened opponent the next. It’s the way it’s always been.

Perhaps with technical director, Tim Steidten, pulling the strings off the pitch and Lopetegui doing the same on it, that way of working will be a thing of the past.

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Collymore’s column: English pride, Palace and West Ham moving forward whilst Man United have let down Sancho and Greenwood

Stan Collymore — Thu, 11 Jul 2024 10:58:21 +0000

In his exclusive column for CaughtOffside, former Aston Villa attacker Stan Collymore discusses some of football’s biggest talking points, including why England are now a squad to be proud of, why Crystal Palace and West Ham are moving forward, and why Man United have let down Jadon Sancho and Mason Greenwood.

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England finally have a squad and a manager to be proud of

I really enjoyed England’s performance against the Netherlands. It was a lot more assured, a lot more assertive, a lot more aggressive.

When the Dutch scored, there was always an element of ‘here we go again,’ but England got that slice of luck with the penalty. I’d be very disappointed if that was given against me as a player and I was very surprised that the referee’s original decision wasn’t upheld. Incredibly fortuitous.

After that I thought for pretty much the entirety of the match, 70 plus minutes, England were the better team.

It shows how far we’ve come that the expectation in this tournament to date hadn’t been met, and for an England team to dominate possession of the ball against the Dutch is quite remarkable – and that may not get commented on as much as it should.

It’s a massive vindication of the St George’s Park project, of English coaches and English coaching, and of the talent that we’re now producing.

England used to play the Dutch and you’d think to yourself ‘how are we going to get the ball back?’ and on Wednesday I watched an English team play a Dutch team where the Netherlands players were running around wondering when they were going to get the ball back. That could be a real watershed moment for English football in many ways.

I still think that Harry Kane is labouring a little bit, but the main positive is that we now know that another glass ceiling can be broken.

The captain of the national team can be taken off and there won’t be any sort of division amongst England fans because there are now players coming through – like Ollie Watkins – that can provide those golden moments. That’s massive. That’s absolutely massive.

Credit has to be given to Gareth Southgate because he said all the way through, judge him on results.

He’s obviously been wounded by some of the personal stuff, which I think is out of order. You can criticise somebody, and we have, rightly so, because of performances, without it being personal.

Guehi transfer won’t trouble Crystal Palace despite Olise switch

If Crystal Palace can bring in up to £100m in sales over the next two or three years, with a progressive coach and an academy that continues to produce good players, they’ll be very happy.

They’ll look at the situation and say that ideally they’d have liked to build like Brighton or other progressive clubs have, get some success and into Europe before having to start to shed our players.

But the reality is it doesn’t matter.

When you are seen as a mid-table ‘smaller’ club you are going to have other people look at your players, and to lose Marc Guehi, Michael Olise and Eberechi Eze in the same window would be concerning.

However, they’ve got a state of the art training facility and still have plenty of very good players. I mean, we haven’t even mentioned Adam Wharton and I don’t think they’d let him go.

If Crystal Palace get some decent money in, Steve Parish can ask himself the question as to whether he has somebody that he would trust to spend it wisely, and in Oliver Glasner, yes, the manager has done very well so far. He looks like somebody that’s going to be there for the longer term.

So this isn’t Roy Hodgson that’s being given a war chest of £70m, they’ve got a young, vibrant manager with a very, very good style of play who, if you gave him the resources, will ensure Crystal Palace go from strength to strength.

West Ham finally moving towards big club status under Lopetegui

I think that we got it absolutely spot on in this column previously about West Ham having to make sure that Lopetegui’s ego, which is big, is assuaged and pandered to.

The fact that he wanted a player that he worked with at Wolves in Max Kilman, and West Ham got him straightaway, tells you that the club have effectively said ‘we’ll back you.’

So that’s a really positive sign and it’s one step forward and not two steps back, but another one forward for a change.

Like other clubs, they will get mentioned and linked with several players over the next few weeks, but I think that Lopetegui has his wish list, and they’ve got target number one.

The manager will already feel like he can walk into the office and start to put his plans for pre-season together, knowing that the West Ham board are going to put their money where their mouth is.

They did put in a lower bid for Kilman which was turned down, but the West Ham of old would’ve walked away. Not anymore.

They’ve got a very good, top 10 squad already, and on the back of the Euros if they want to tap into the whole ‘West Ham won the World Cup’ thing, they all of a sudden become a more attractive proposition for players.

Man United have let both Jadon Sancho and Mason Greenwood down

I think that both Jadon Sancho and Mason Greenwood were unfortunate to be at the madhouse over the past few years that is Manchester United.

Sancho being dug out by the manager in particular isn’t helpful at all, and his form back at Dortmund proved that.

In terms of Greenwood, it was and is a very serious situation. We all saw the videos, we all saw the pictures, and I’m a massive believer – I have to be because of my own mistakes in life – that you get an opportunity to learn and move forward, and Getafe allowed him to do that.

There was very toxic way in which his situation was talked about amongst Manchester United fans, men and women. I doubt that there’s a way back for him there, and I think that makes it very difficult for him to come back to an English club too.

For both of them to play abroad now is a is a good thing and I think they’ll get plenty of offers because of England being on the world stage at the moment after their win over the Netherlands. There’s a lot of positive connotations after that performance and result.

They should go and enjoy a career outside of the English top flight, because yes, to a degree, Man United and English football has failed them.

I wish them both very well because they’re both extremely talented players, and in a year’s time, if Sancho is doing what we know he can do, there’s nothing to say that by that point, the next England manager doesn’t look to bring him back into the fold.

For Greenwood I think it’s more difficult because if he plays for England again, everybody – media, women’s groups and the general public – will say that he shouldn’t be.

Despite me thinking that anybody should have the ability to redeem themselves, I don’t think there is a way back to international duty for Mason Greenwood.

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West Ham leading chase for €30m-rated defensive ace

Jason Pettigrove — Wed, 10 Jul 2024 07:47:41 +0000

West Ham certainly appear to have their act together in this summer’s transfer window.

Though some targets have already slipped through their fingers, others have already put pen to paper and it seems that technical director, Tim Steidten, isn’t going to rest until he’s built a squad that Julen Lopetegui is happy with.

According to CaughtOffside sources with knowledge of the Hammers’ transfer plans, Ajax’s 24-year-old defender, Josip Sutalo, is of interest.

West Ham want Josip Sutalo

The Bosnian, who actually represents the Croatian national team, has also been watched by Fulham and Brighton and Hove Albion.

It’s understood that West Ham are leading the race because of their recent dealings with the Dutch giants, from whom they signed Edson Alvarez and Mo Kudus.

Both of those players have settled in at the London Stadium wonderfully well, and if they’re able to land Sutalo too, it’ll be a great hat-trick for the East Londoners.

West Ham could bid for Josip Sutalo

Ajax are seemingly not pushing their man out of the exit door but are understood to value him at somewhere between €25m and €30m.

Fulham are unlikely to do business at that price, though the Hammers and the Seagulls are expected to come in with first offers around the €20m-€23m mark.

From the player’s point of view, Ajax are in the Europa League qualifiers and, if they manage to negotiate them successfully, will have a European campaign to look forward to.

None of West Ham, Brighton or Fulham can offer Sutalo that, though the standard of football domestically week in and week out will be far higher than what he’s used to.

Were the Dutch side to therefore accept any offers for his services, it leaves the defender with quite the conundrum.

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West Ham get their answer after submitting huge offer for Euro 2024 hero

Jason Pettigrove — Wed, 10 Jul 2024 04:17:48 +0000

So far this summer it appears that West Ham United have been one of the more active clubs in the transfer market.

Clearly keen to impress new first-team coach, Julen Lopetegui, technical director Tim Steidten is working overtime to try and bring the players in that the Spaniard wants.

Max Kilman and Luis Guilherme are just two that have already been secured with others expected to be landed before the start of the 2024/24 campaign.

Mikautadze turns West Ham down

One player that Le10 Sport noted that the Hammers had made by far the biggest bid for out of those clubs interested is Georgia’s Euro 2024 hero, Georges Mikautadze.

His club, Metz, had hoped for €20m as a transfer fee, with the outlet saying that West Ham’s offer was well above that.

However, a more recent Le10 Sport report now suggests that the player has no interest in playing for the club because they’re not in European competition next season.

West Ham United manager Julen Lopetegui has missed out on Georges Mikautadze

That’s a situation that the East Londoners may find crops up again and again this summer.

For all of their attempts to move forward, and away from what was, frankly, a stale style of football under David Moyes, West Ham are still just a mid-table Premier League side when all is said and done.

No player worth their salt will want to sign for them simply because all they can offer at present is the dream of what might be to come.

Top class players want to be involved in any European campaign as a bare minimum, with the idea that the Champions League is a reachable goal.

That’s likely to be where Lopetegui sees the Hammers going to, but they’re not there yet and that will likely be a problem for them this summer.

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Romano: West Ham deal “not an easy one” as Kilman signs on in East London

Jason Pettigrove — Fri, 05 Jul 2024 08:25:39 +0000

It’s an exciting period for West Ham and their supporters as the Julen Lopetegui era begins in earnest.

The Spaniard has a reputation of playing free-flowing and attacking football, and Hammers fans will soon get to see exactly what a Lopetegui side looks like.

A major improvement on the safety first nature of David Moyes is expected, and that’s arguably his brief as he takes the reins during pre-season.

Paqueta deal difficult for Flamengo as West Ham hold firm

Football remains an entertainment business, and there’s been little of that lately at the London Stadium.

Lopetegui doesn’t want to go all gung-ho from the off, but sticking to the Moyes way of doing things isn’t going to win him any friends.

Tangible results on the pitch seems to be the way forward, and the new manager will certainly have already understood that.

The club have already signed off on one deal it seems, but another isn’t going to be easy for the buying club.

Flamengo want West Ham’s Lucas Paqueta

“Flamengo’s directors have travelled to London to make an approach to West Ham for Lucas Paqueta but the reply was clear: no chance for a loan deal,” Fabrizio Romano told CaughtOffside for his Daily Briefing.

“At the moment, the deal is complicated but Flamengo are keeping doors open to a new attempt in the next days or weeks. It’s not an easy one, for sure.

“Sticking with West Ham, the deal is done between them and Wolves for Max Kilman. £40m is the package agreement for the player, wanted by Julen Lopetegui.

“So, an important signing for the club.”

Kilman was the fulcrum for his manager when in charge of Wolves, so it really isn’t a surprise to see Lopetegui insist on the Hammers signing him too.

Paqueta moving on might benefit the East Londoners, given that he still has certain allegations hovering over him, albeit they’ll miss his particular brand of skill on the pitch.

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Lopetegui could walk as West Ham struggling to land transfer targets

Jason Pettigrove — Thu, 04 Jul 2024 05:41:05 +0000

It looks as if lightning could be striking twice for new West Ham first-team coach, Julen Lopetegui.

The Spaniard quickly parted ways with Wolverhampton Wanderers once the club admitted that they wouldn’t be able to afford to land the targets Lopetegui had in mind, per The Athletic (subscription required).

Taking over at the London Stadium promised a new dawn in East London, but it seems as if things are quickly turning sour.

West Ham not backing Lopetegui in the transfer market

The club have already had bids rejected for Wolves captain, Max Kilman, and Nice’s brilliant former Barcelona centre-back, Jean-Clair Todibo.

Though the Daily Mail suggest that the club are considering a second bid for Todibo, the low-balling antics of chairman, David Sullivan, threatens to sever the relationship with Lopetegui before it starts.

If the Hammers do genuinely want to be considered as regular participants in European competition, and their aspiration remains to be in the Champions League, then the hierarchy need to start thinking and working as an elite club.

West Ham United manager Julen Lopetegui

With a fanatical supporter base that follow the club through thick and thin, the East London outfit have everything in place to be successful but almost always fall short – due in no small part to a small-minded attitude that belies their apparent intentions.

As Lopetegui has shown previously, if he feels short-changed at any point he isn’t going to hang about, so West Ham need to think very carefully about their next moves.

Tim Steidten has shown his astuteness in the transfer market so also needs to be backed by Sullivan and his board.

This is a real crossroads for the club now. Make the right decisions and West Ham will continue on an upward trajectory.

Decide to keep saving the pennies and they’ll only continue to stagnate.

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West Ham try their luck with £35m bid for world class defender

Jason Pettigrove — Wed, 03 Jul 2024 06:03:39 +0000

Under Julen Lopetegui in 2024/25, West Ham fans will arguably get back a playing style that’s somewhere approaching the ‘West Ham way’ of yesteryear.

David Moyes, for all of his good points – and he did consistently get the club into Europe and won them their first major silverware in over four decades – played a way that was often safety first.

That won him few admirers, who surely believed that the right way to go about things was to play on the front foot and consistently attack the opposition.

West Ham want Jean-Clair Todibo

In any event, that’s precisely the way that Lopetegui likes his teams to go about their business, and to that end, he needs the players to be able to follow his lead in that regard.

One who he apparently would like to bring in is Nice’s former Barcelona centre-back, Jean Clair Todibo.

The 24-year-old again had an excellent season in 2023/24, and to that end, it’s fairly clear why the French club have turned down the Hammers opening gambit of €35m, according to L’Equipe (subscription required).

Jean-Clair Todibo to West Ham?

Though it isn’t clear if the East Londoners are flush with cash, chairman David Sullivan has long been known as a businessman who lowballs his opposite number in negotiations.

He can then legitimately claim to supporters that he’s been willing to sign high quality players, but the reality is that fans of the club aren’t stupid.

If West Ham do really want to be going places, then sooner or later Sullivan needs to pay the going rate, no questions asked.

Todibo would be a step up in quality for the club and it remains to be seen if they’ll go back in for him later in the window, or if he’ll sign with one of the many other clubs that are interested in his services.

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