The summer transfer window is in full swing, and in the days of social media, there are literally hundreds of rumours of who we are signing, and who we aren’t. It’s best to wait until a player is holding up the shirt or throwing up the crossed hammers on the official website before getting too excited, but it is hard not to get caught up in the whatiffery of the transfer window.
West Ham’s first three signings of the summer were Max Kilman, Luis Guilherme and Wes Foderingham. Let’s start with Max Kilman. He was clearly Lopetegui’s first choice for centre back.
At £40m, you can argue that he’s overpriced, but when you are prizing away the captain from a fellow Premier League club, it isn’t going to come cheap. Kilman is 27 years old, and has signed a seven-year deal, so could be a mainstay in the side for years to come, possibly as captain too.
What has impressed me with this deal is the club has secured the top target of the manager, something that did not always happen with his predecessor. What is Kilman like as a player? He is good in 1v1s, dominant in the air – which is important as West Ham were seventh worse at conceding aerial duels last season.
Kilman has a decent left-foot, and an accurate range of passing, including longer passes, switching defence to attack. Fitness-wise, Kilman has a great record – playing 38 league games last season, and 37 the season before – something our sicknote centre backs haven’t managed for some time.
Although not a glamour signing, I am looking forward to what Kilman will bring to the table. He should bring solidity and leadership to a back-line that was slow and porous last season. As for Luis Guilherme, he’s 18 years old, and from the Palmeiras side that produced Estevao, this is an exciting talent.
Guilherme has played left and right wing and as a 10 and has also spent time playing as a second striker. Guilherme likes to shoot from distance, often cutting inside onto his left foot, when playing on the right. What we will welcome hugely is his pace. The lad is fast and has good control.
He likes to combine with his fellow attackers, and will link up well with Paqueta, Bowen, and Kudus. Although still young and growing, Guilherme is tall for a winger, and has decent upper strength, so he can be hard to knock off the ball.
He’s an explosive, athletic player, and one that will excite the Hammers faithful when he gets on the ball. Guilherme looks well suited to the Premier League, and it will be interesting to see how long we have to wait to see him start. He is exactly the sort of talent we want to see at the Bowl, and hopefully we see him sooner, rather than later.
Now for Wes Foderingham, the least exciting of the three signings so far, but possibly a savvy one. The 33-year old has signed a two-year contract, on a free from our old friends Sheffield United.
Foderingham adds to the home-grown quotient and will be a positive presence around the squad. His signing enabled the sale of Nathan Trott to FC Copenhagen and has enabled Hegyi to go on loan to Motherwell and Mason Terry to be loaned to Hornchurch.
Reminiscent of Darren Randolph for me, and you need some good solid pros around the club to work with the youngsters. What next? We have been linked with Jhon Duran, Armando Broja, Artem Dovbyk, Alexander Sorloth, Johnathan David, Arkadiusz Milik and various others in the past month or so.
Jhon Duran appears to be the front runner, and Villa are willing to do a deal at around £40m. Similar to Max Kilman, this seems a lot of money, but again as with Kilman, if he is the top choice of the manager, and Steidten, we should go and get him.
Signing an unproven, somewhat maverick talent at £40m is a risk, but there have been glimpses of what a talent he is. Duran is a serious physical presence and has an eye for a cracking goal.
Despite struggling for minutes last season behind the superb Ollie Watkins, Duran still managed to claim goal of the season for Villa with a fantastic strike against Crystal Palace, bringing a cross down on his chest, before smashing a half volley into the net. Have a look at it on YouTube – an incredibly satisfying strike. Duran managed five league goals last season, mainly off the bench, all from his left foot, all illustrating his pace and power.
He could be a fantastic signing, but with our recent record of signing big money strikers, who knows. Right back is the other position that we are clearly looking to recruit in – Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Kyle Walker-Peters have been the two names we have been most linked with.
What I find a little odd here is that they are very different types of full back. Personally, I would prefer Walker-Peters, who has that attacking element to his game, that would benefit a Lopetegui side. The transfer window closes at 11pm on August 30th, and there is considerable work for Steidten and his team to do. It is going to be an interesting few weeks.
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