Our squad is too old, too lopsided, missing key players due to injury, and as the January transfer window opened, we were desperate for a striker, some legs in midfield and some cover at centre back. January was an opportunity to address some shortcomings, even with a savvy cheap buy and a couple of loans. But flash forward to the end of the window, and despite all of the ‘hard work’ by Mr Sullivan, we ended up with Evan Ferguson on a dry loan until the end of the season.
A word on Ferguson. He’s an exciting young talent who is clearly wanted by Graham Potter. Brighton would have sold for around £40m or included an obligation for a similar amount. We were, understandably, reluctant to commit to that sort of money due to his injury problems. What that means is we are basically putting a Brighton player in the shop window for the next few months. Should he do well, his value would head back up towards the £100m Chelsea were quoted a year or so ago. On the plus side, we have a proper striker for the rest of the season – one who has something to prove, and who our manager wants to work with.
The Missing Millions: Premier League Spending vs. West Ham
Some £370m was spent in the January window by Premier League clubs, not a penny of it by us. Looking into that figure, it is slightly skewed by the fact that Manchester City spent £190m, trying to buy their way out of their current slump. But that still left £180m spent by other clubs in the league, improving their squads, while we did not.
They are mitigating factors – we have changed manager and employed one of his trusted allies – Kyle Macaulay – which has seen Tim Steidten shown the door. Potter and Macauley will want to assess the squad, get injured players back, and plan for next season. We are out of the cups, and probably safe from relegation, so there is no need to throw money away in what can be a tricky time to buy. That said, other teams bought, and on the surface, bought well. Surely Macauley has a database of players he was looking at for Chelsea, and Potter had been in the wings for the West Ham job for months, so would have a good idea of what we need?
The Sullivan Playbook: ITKs and Phantom Bids
We have the usual ITKs, and Sullivan’s trusted minions feeding us snippets of information, and propaganda. The £57m ‘bid’ for Jhon Duran was just so Sullivan, it was unreal. How many times has Sullivan bid what looks like a large amount for a player knowing the bid would be rejected, and he can then roll out the ‘we tried’ mantra? Fans are not fooled by this, and he continues to wind up other clubs with his antics.
For those fans who continued to say, ‘well we have £57m to spend then’, buy a copy of the Sullivan Playbook so you’re more versed for the next transfer window. Sullivan had no intention of spending this January, and more worrying is the noise coming out of his camp, that he has little intention of spending in the summer either.
Rumours, Links, and Failed Targets
Let’s take a quick look at some of the players we were linked with Brian Brobbey (Ajax), Ezechiel Banzuzi (OH Leuven), Andre Silva (RB Leipzig), Ansu Fati (Barcelona), Rodrigo Nunez (Fulham), Evan Guessand (Nice), Elye Wahi (Eintracht Frankfurt), Taiwo Awoniyi (Nottingham Forest), Marcus Rashord (Manchester United), Kiernan Dewsbury Hall (Chelsea), Eli Junior Kroupi (Lorient), Daniel Cummings (Celtic), Ricardo Pepi (PSV Eindhoven), Adam Webster (Brighton).
I could go on, there were plenty more. Out of the players above, there are a lot of strikers, and we did get Ferguson, albeit on loan. But what happened to getting some pace in midfield, and we are light at centre back. Banzuzi for around £10m and loan for a centre back until the end of the season would have made good sense and been relatively inexpensive – but we don’t often do good sense at West Ham.
The Verdict: Looking Ahead to Summer
Potter took the option of recalling James Ward-Prowse from his disappointing loan, but JWP does not bring the pace and legs we need in the middle of the park. Potter has gone on record as saying he is happy with what we have. We have heard that many times, from many managers under Sullivan – what else are they going to say?
In summary, another disappointing January window for the fans, and I think, for the manager. Mr Sullivan, however, will be pleased, as he has managed to avoid spending a penny this window, and has thoroughly enjoyed himself with a bit of drama and his phantom bids. I am dreading the summer window already.
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