02 Jun 2018 21:41:45
Ironmike on the west ham page has put a post up saying we have enquired about Arnautovic by his post he isn't very happy about us asking about their star player if the price of 50 mill that's being banded about is true this is one transfer we should leave well alone.


1.) 02 Jun 2018
02 Jun 2018 22:58:00
Would be a great signing just not at his age and for £50m.


2.) 03 Jun 2018
03 Jun 2018 09:40:10
I like him.
I also don't see how he's worth anything less. he's only been at WH a season so still has a long contract. They paid a pretty penny and prices are always shooting up.

Yeah you can argue that he's in his prime at 29 so only has 2/ 3 years left at his top performance but I don't care about the money. If the club have it and are willing to spend it, I'm not going to get all bent out of shape about it.

I see a player who can play all across the front, has great ability, heart and fight. Characteristics that should make him a cult favourite.

He has an edge which this club is famous for liking in its players. He scores he provides and it's not your money.

I say let's get him, if possible.
We need a window of "in their prime" players.
Our youth teams etc are pretty well stocked but the 1st 11 could do with an over haul.
We can't be criticised for ignoring youth, so it's not exactly putting that work at risk by acquiring 3 or 4 pros in the 27 to 30 range.

Building for the future is great but we need results and to move up the table now. Real men required. After all, the 1st team has more than it's fair share of OAPS so 29 isn't exactly the same issue as a backline made up of 3 players over 33?

He would improve our team 100%.

{Ed025's Note - im a big fan as well MTBTY..


3.) 03 Jun 2018
03 Jun 2018 10:28:38
Completely agree my team. Great post.


4.) 03 Jun 2018
03 Jun 2018 11:37:35
I posted something a year ago for a bit of fun and Ed25 called him back then, how right he was! It's a little long so I apologise.
Also, I was gobsmacked by my choice ending up at wolves and at the price he fetched, I was way off the mark haha.

ORIGINAL POST:

27 May 2017 07:24:19
Morning all,

Just a little fun if the Eds will allow this.

We all think of ourselves as scouting experts on players linked with the club, so let's put it to the test. Maybe any Eds can say if its a good choice or utter nonsense?

Tell us about a player who you would love at the club, a little about his position, and why he would be a good signing. No absurd suggestions like Neymar, its lazy and wholly unrealistic.

I'll get the ball rolling.

I recommend Ruben Neves from Porto of the Portuguese league. Only 20 years old so in terms of development i believe there is huge potential for him to develop into a global star. He is a Midfielder, defensive i believe, and with Gareth Barry getting way to old, he would be an excellent replacement.
Despite being 20, he could be ready to jump straight into the first team, assuming he adapts quickly to the EPL and climate change.
Already a senior international with Portugal, a nation with an excellent crop of players, gives an insight that he is rated highly as a player, likely he would have made more appearances except his competition is in the form of Joao Mario, William Carvalho, Joao Moutinho etc, it's easy to see why the breakthrough to International regular is difficult.
As a defensive minded midfielder, goals are not going to come often, but his real strengths lie in his excellent passing and vision, seemingly always looking to create strong attacking play for the team. Positional awareness is fantastic, so unlikely he will be caught ball watching and gifting the opposition space to break. A natural leader at such a young age only bodes well for the future.

Tough to sign, seems very committed to Porto. Many clubs have reportedly shown interest such as Man Utd, Chelsea and Liverpool. Wouldn't be surprised to see a fee of 40 million, maybe higher.

{Ed025's Note - mine would be arnautovic who plays for stoke, he is what i would call an old fashioned centre forward and i believe in a better side would thrive, he's good in the air, holds the ball up well and certainly knows where the goal is, great leader of the line as well and brings the midfield into the game, i'm not sure what price he would be but it would be less than what we will get for rom and i see him as the perfect replacement myself, . good exercise that worcester mate.

27 May 2017 08:05:31
Thank you Ed025.
I really do like Arnautovic aswell. Weren't we linked with him last summer? No disrespect at all to Stoke, but i completely agree that he could step up even more at a bigger club. And yes, what great value he would be as a replacement for Rom, nice healthy profit with a proven EPL scorer. Your shout beats mine!


5.) 03 Jun 2018
03 Jun 2018 11:46:17
Myteam I like the guy but not at the price mentioned he is 29 and there is no way Brands would agree to spend that much on a player with no resale value you mentioned buying players in their prime we have Sigs bolasie Walcott tosun gueye schniderlin Keane and Coleman all in the 26-30 prime range what we need is young quality players who will add pace and power to our team if we can get Arnie at the right price then let's see if we can get him (it's a big if west ham don't want to and don't have to sell him) we won't have another season of throwing money left right and centre.


6.) 03 Jun 2018
03 Jun 2018 12:01:37
Ah yes the 79 pages.


7.) 03 Jun 2018
03 Jun 2018 12:18:19
Still people getting bogged down on prices it’s all irrelevant 50m let’s say 3 very good years in him that’s just over £15m a season to me if he gets double figures in goals plus assists then money well spent, I wanted him last year to be honest I would also take Jonny Evans with is buy out clause so low at 3m apparently, know he is 30 but for 2 seasons good option and get rid of Williams jags can still have a roll to play but just not every week.


8.) 03 Jun 2018
03 Jun 2018 12:25:19
Arnie would be a terrible signing. Heres, in my opinion why, it outlays exactly what is wrong with our recruitment at the moment. Paying big bucks for a 29 year that is not going to improve than is current performances is not intelligent business at all. I hate it when the sentence comes from a fan 'I don't care how much the club pays, it's not my money' That's plain arrogance as it is a factor to how much your club can progress.

Everything within a club contributes to a teams success. So for example, if every transfer is a hit, a hit being the players have performed well and their value has risen. This will contribute, if only a little to the clubs overall success for that season and then the target boundaries can improve and so on and so on. So spending cash willy nilly, especially on a player that is very inconsistent, not just at West Ham but at his previous clubs is not ideal. I believe, for his position, there are better players for the money being asked.

Can't get them players? Then we look to youth or just play Lookman which I think is much better option and then invest the 50 mill or however much in other areas to obtain a greater return on investment that will allow our club to push forward. Training facilities, if as little as rewarding staff with a little extra pay and motivating them to give EFC there all, it all adds up.

Just think people should be looking a little deeper than what's on the surface and past one season thinking. There are restrictions to our spending so we have to maximise the benefits from all signings. Evidence of what i'm talking about are clubs like Leeds.


9.) 03 Jun 2018
03 Jun 2018 12:53:35
How would a guy that scored 11 goals for West Ham not improve us how many players scored that for us last season case closed.


10.) 03 Jun 2018
03 Jun 2018 12:55:51
Leeds are not the big club they were in the 60s there is a reason they went down and have not come back they are a championship club that have not been close to getting back to prem.


11.) 03 Jun 2018
03 Jun 2018 13:36:17
Do you think We should stop paying the going rates for players then?

You've got your finger in the dam mate. It's a battle we lost years ago. Money is football like it or loathe it. And if we are going to compete, we have to play the same game as the big boys. We are a big boy now. Be silly to cut our nose off for the sake of some moral dilemma 're money.

In essence I fully agree the money is crazy. But if you don't think players worse than Arnie will go for less than 50 mil this window you're deluded.

The mean average signing last year seemed to be 30 mil. So a player who didn't turn up until Xmas, playing in a terrible footballing side, the only team worse than us? And single handed pulled out some stunning performances. I admit I wasn't keen last year when we were linked. But he made me eat my words and I was genuinely jealous of his ferocity and running.

He would improve us but I'm not desperate for him enough to call him my top target, far from it but he certainly would be a massive improvement.

All clubs have a min of 2 senior strikers and then the club's who embrace their academies, have a u23 about the 11. We are short of a senior forward to join Tosun.

We seem to all want a marked improvement yet it baffles me the opposition to buying players ready to go, in their prime.

Yes we do have plenty of players in that bracket but I'd say a couple have been injury prone and or out of form for ages. So out some will go and They will need replacing.

If we go with the kids and keep the cash in the bank and things don't go as we hope, the dissenters will be baying for the boards blood, demanding they stop making mistakes yet again.

We have the means. I'm not being glib about it but as ed02 always said, we don't truly understand the money side and get hung up on it when it's really not the issue.

Sorry had a few bottles of plonk last night and I'm probably being a bit irritable. Apologise as I mean no offence.


12.) 03 Jun 2018
03 Jun 2018 15:43:32
Personally I am not saying don’t sign him as I think he could make an impact in the side I just think his value is a bit steep, West Ham paid £20m last year so I feel £50m is too much similarly to Danny Rose’s valuation being too much. Both could do a job for us here and now.
We will have to see what Brands and Silva do.


13.) 03 Jun 2018
03 Jun 2018 11:44:45
Ed 25 he good player But wouldn't lay 50 mil for him surely better players we can attract for that type of money.

{Ed025's Note - the money does not interest me one jot bretto...its not mine.. :)


14.) 03 Jun 2018
03 Jun 2018 16:40:32
Arn playes in a striker position and only scored 11 goals? Rooney got 10 in a deeper position and we are on the verge of selling him! I just don't believe he's that good and I've watch him play a lot, has a can't be arsed attitide when the going gets tough. I am totally open to disagreement and welccome your views as we want the same outcome. Great post by the way of the person who touted Runen Neves a few years back, that's a perfect example signing of who, I believe we need (everything permitting) . Either we retain a fantastic player or sell, make profit, reinvest and make little steps forward each season. My point is that money does need to be spent I agree, I just believe it can be spent better. I believe we will always be behind the top clubs if we spend on individualism rather than those who slot in to the managers system. Ohh to those who say you can't understand the finances so just spend seems a very hypocritical statement, this isn't a who's right or wrong it's a discussion thread, everyone has different opinions but are welcomed.


15.) 03 Jun 2018
03 Jun 2018 18:07:55
The money SHOULD interest us for the simple reason that it isn't unlimited so to spend £50m on one player means the transfer budget for that window would be greatly reduced. £50m on a 25 year old striker? Yes please.


16.) 03 Jun 2018
03 Jun 2018 18:48:46
Who let a couple of bitter Leeds fans on here?
Can't believe any football fan can disagree that Leeds are a spent force. Very heavy weekend for some on here today. Some truly bonkers opinions today.


17.) 03 Jun 2018
03 Jun 2018 21:04:22
Any player with a pedigree will come with a price, we need players like this, 10 million or 50 million it's not our money, should it concern us, did it concern city, Chelsea, no, they got players in and once in, added and added until they got to the top, this is the only way, this is why arsenal have failed, spurs will fail, they won't pay the money, always want value for money,

{Ed025's Note - its hard to disagree with that mate..


18.) 03 Jun 2018
03 Jun 2018 23:14:07
The difference is that we don't have anywhere near the money that City or Chelsea have so it's not a realistic comparison. City's owners make Moshiri look like a pauper!


19.) 03 Jun 2018
03 Jun 2018 23:14:50
Would people not prefer the club to do good business? Money should matter because that is part of the buainess part of football. Good player though so I would probably pay it if he was the best we could get. But want lookman to get game time as well.


20.) 03 Jun 2018
03 Jun 2018 22:36:12
City and chelsea were throwing money around pre finacial fair play, so that is very different.


21.) 04 Jun 2018
04 Jun 2018 09:05:08
To all of you not bothered about the money how about letting your wives loose with your credit cards with the same message?

Of course we have to pay the going rate in a market that is getting increasingly expensive every year and yes, there should be some people we pay over the top for to give a message to others that we are going to challenge and make a statement.


But was Niasse money well spent, have we seen a return on Klassen. I have to be honest I'm not sure Sigardson was worth 50m at his age and he hasn't disproved me yet in my opinion although I hope he does.


Moshiri isn't a bottomless pit of money that we can squander because it's 'not ours'. It's up to management to make every pound count. If they believe Arnautovich is worth £50m that's the decision they are there to make. That's one of the reasons they are paid the big salaries. If they think there is someone else better value then I'd be just as happy but I want them to find the best value for money or have sound strategic reasons because that's the way the club will be able to grow
NSNO.


22.) 04 Jun 2018
04 Jun 2018 10:31:19
Moshiri has the wealth to compete with chelsea granted city are on a different level of wealth but your right the money only becomes an issue if we don’t see a return on these players but players like Niasse there won’t be too much of a loss as still think we would get money back on him it is the ones like Sigs is in his prime so we know when he leaves there will be a loss so it’s performance based like Kyle Walker thought that was hefty but know one talks about that price because he was an improvement on what they had.


23.) 04 Jun 2018
04 Jun 2018 10:59:38
Don't forget FFP, big money signings will be limited its great saying why not buy him for this or that as its not our money but we are restricted by FFP. There are other things to consider when spending a lot of cash on two or three players what happens if they get injured and miss the rest of the season how do we get any half decent replacements in if we are tied down by FFP restraints. I am sure the management have plans in place to buy who they actually want anyway so why get hung up on any possible signings.


24.) 04 Jun 2018
04 Jun 2018 13:47:22
We can spend the turnover right?
Didn't last season just earned 135 mil?
So add another slab from players we will be selling and before you know it, we can spend £200 mil before we get anywhere near breaking FFP rules.

To compare us with teams who are capable of attracting (1st very important) and breaking world records for transfers, let's put the £50 mil player in context.

Yes a huge amount of money but we will all witness by the end of this window just how common place a 50 mil fee is. So many of you are really struggling with the money.
Put up or shut up. You're wasting everyone's time because it really is the way now.

We have no debt. We have someone who is here to bank roll us. He is revolutionizing the business. He is making it self sufficient.
I'd worry if we had a provincial owner still who had somehow pulled the wool over tha banks and investors eyes and was splurging £250 mill every window until it all foreclosed and we were relegated. I think with the lessons of history, that's near impossible to happen.

People banged on about the lack of investment last season. What I mean is we could all see lots of signings and we spent more than ever. At one point we were the 3rd biggest spender in the entire world. But the pints made were true. Put in the Lukaku money and others and all of a sudden we only spent 30 mil.