The Daily Mail reports that Crystal Palace have agreed a £12.5 million fee for James Tomkins. I'd be really sad to see Tomka go. Being a Basildon lad he's one of our own and feels like part of the heartbeat of the club. He did a great job when playing out of position at right back last season and was a mainstay of our promotion side and then for the next four seasons in the Premier League. We also look much more threatening from corners when he's in the side. Perhaps a slight lack of pace left him exposed when the likes of Fernando Torres were at their peak, but he's surely as good as some of the centre-backs who have made it into the England side.
It's true that we have four centre backs vying for two spots and that Ogbonna and Reid appear to be Bilic's first choices, with Tomkins and Collins as back-up. Part of Slaven's thinking could also be that he wants to give Reece Oxford more games as a centre back, particularly with several clubs rumoured to be interested in Oxford. And at 27 perhaps Tomka wants a guaranteed place under Alan Pardew, a manager who knows him from the youth team at West Ham. But if he does go, then thanks for being a great servant to the club James.
Meanwhile it's gone a little under the radar that West Ham have signed Algerian winger Sofiane Feghouli from Valencia, who will presumably replace Victor Moses. He's got 40 caps and was the Algerian footballer of the year so could be promising. Let's hope he's the next Mahrez. Feghouli is our second sumer signing after Norwegian midfielder Harvard Nordtveit from Borussia Monchengladbach.
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