A Transitional Season Ahead: Chance Or Chore For West Ham ?

HamburgHammer looks at the meandering transfer business of the club while also seeing a fundamental disconnect between club and supporters. Something has got to give, but when ?

No, I didn’t watch the preseason classic against Wolves in wet and windy Jacksonville. I just couldn’t keep my minces open as one rain delay message replaced another before I could just about manage to switch off the telly around 1:30am local time and make it over to my pillow, escaping immediately into nine hours of blissful dreamless sleep. When I woke up I found out we had lost 1:3 and allegedly weren’t really at the races. Which is not what you want to hear about any West Ham side, but again, it’s preseason. I won’t read too much into results just yet as long as the players get their fitness levels up steadily without suffering any knocks or injuries in the process.

And so, welcome to the weird and wonderful world of transfer business in the Premier League, 2024 version. The Colombian striker that we want, that we really really want is Aston Villa’s Jhon Jader Durán Palacio. He is a young prospect and backup striker for the Birmingham club. Durán by all accounts is very keen to switch from Villa’s claret and blue shirt into West Ham’s, he even did a cheeky version of the crossed hammers sign on social media, a naughty nod to a certain Paul Ince. West Ham have raised their offer, according to the rumour mill, to £40m, but still no cigar! I keep mentioning the ridiculous asking prices for all kinds of players these days.

Don’t get me wrong, I am sure Duran is a very decent prospect, he must be if we haven’t left the negotiation table yet despite the mindblowing fantasy figures quoted. As a naive, old school and very common football supporter I am no longer capable of computing these amounts. It’s like going to your local supermarket and finding that a regular tin of baked beans suddenly costs you an Ayrton (that’s a tenner if you’re located outside the Cockney inclusion zone). West Ham seem to, still, get knocked back regularly in their transfer endeavours. Is this because lowball offers a la David Sullivan are still the dernier cri in 2024 or are we falling further behind, striving to become a big club while lacking the funds and nous to do so

The Durán transfer saga already feels like a Netflix series. Big money. Hero or villain. Or should that read villan ? A player throwing toys from his pram, burning bridges with his current club while the interested club waving its arms at the other side of the bridge is frantically turning over sofa cushions in the hope to find some ready cash between leftover crisps and chips. I read that Durán rejected a highly generous offer recently to score goals in Saudi Arabia. If true, it shows that Durán wants to play his football as a regular starter, but in a proper league and competition. So, if he indeed is the chosen striker that Steidten and Lopetegui aim to build this team around, I am on board. And not just because I have about 30 glorious puns stored away in the depths of my brain with a Duran Duran theme. But is the signing gonna happen ? Don’t bet on it, not even if Paquetá tells you it’s safe.