What is Pellegrini's strongest side?

It seems Manuel Pellegrini's first-choice side is starting to take shape following the 1-0 friendly win at Fulham. Interestingly the gaffer was playing three playmakers behind new boy Sebastien Haller, in Pablo Fornals, Manuel Lanzini and Felipe Anderson. Can all three fit into the same side or are they too similar? His deeper midfielders were Declan Rice and Jack Wilshere. Perhaps Mark Noble will be a squad player this season, though with Wilshere's injury record it's likely Nobes will still play a lot of games. Particularly if we have a mini-crisis and need to being in 'Mr West Ham' to motivate the side. There would also be the option of dropping an attacking midfielder to bring in the fit-again Yarmolenko, Hernandez or Antonio. 

Defensively he will presumably stick with Diop and Balbuena in the middle and Fredericks and Masuaku as full backs, though both Arthur and Aaron Cresswell have struggled defensively at left-back in recent years. What is clear is WHU should have a very strong bench. If Pellegrini kept basically the same side that played at Fulham, we could see Antonio, Yarmolenko, Hernandez, Snodgrass, Diangana, Noble, Sanchez, Zabaleta, Johnson and Cresswell all competing for a place on the bench.

Obiang departs

The clear-out continues with Pedro Obiang leaving for Sassuolo (isn't that a Phil Collins song?) and a £7.2 million fee. He never really achieved his potential at West Ham and latterly seemed to be frustratingly up and down in his performances. But he had some fine games under Slaven Bilic in the final season at Upton Park and when he came into the side, as in the away game at Man City, he contributed to some memorable successes. And there was always that stunning goal at Spurs which almost broke the Wembley net. He was also a good pro who never moaned too much when left out of the side — and he sent a dignified thank you to WHU fans on his exit. The best of luck in Italy, Pedro.

Hail Haller the Hammer

Well, quite a lot has happened during my week on holiday. West Ham have made a really ambitious club record signing in the £45 million Frenchman Sebastien Haller. At the age of 25 he scored 15 times in the Bundesliga last season and had nine assists for Eintracht Frankfurt, which indicates he's a quality operator and a much more ambitious signing than, say, Saloman Rondon. He'll also be a much less moody front man than Marko Arnautovic. We might have to start being nice to the board at this rate. On the trivia front Haller is the second Sebastien at West Ham following Sebastien Schemmel. With Haller and Fornals in the side alongside Anderson, Lanzini, Rice and Yarmolenko there's cause for real optimism, even if the defence still needs strengthening.

Meanwhile Sam Byram has gone to Norwich for £750,000. He's terribly injury-prone but on his day a decent attacking wing-back, even if his defensive work needs to improve. But having paid £6 million for him WHU might have got a bit more out of Norwich at the current inflated rates. Still progress is being made with players being shipped out and exciting new signings coming in. None of which prevented losses to Man City and Newcastle in pre-season but the only purpose of these games is fitness. I'm already looking forward to seeing how Haller and Fornals perform against Man City.

And Feghouli must score!

Good to see former Hammer Sofiane Feghouli score for Algeria in the Africa Cup of Nations last night. Feghouli's goal and Algeria's penalty win sent Algeria into the semis and sparked fireworks and mass parties in Finsbury Park, where there is a large Algerian community. Feghouli might have been worth a second season at the Hammers. He ended up scoring three goals and looking much better after a poor start, before Bilic sold him after one season. Had WHU kept him he might have been a decent squad player. As it is, a man who once kissed the plastic at the London Stadium could now be heading for glory.

Maxi headroom

Why should anyone choose Valencia over Stratford? According to Sky the Hammers have missed out on Maxi Gomez after a dispute about how the fee is paid. Some fans are blaming the board, but you can see the club's point in that if other clubs pay WHU in instalments why should West Ham have to come up with £45million in cash? And was Gomez ever that keen on the mid-table Hammers?

So we move on. Callum Wilson is a good player but seems overpriced at £50 million and appears to be staying at Bournemouth. Salomon Rondon may well be on his way to China. But surely there must a decent striker somewhere out there who wants to join a Premier League outfit with gates of 60,000? 

For the moment we should keep Javier Hernandez. Natural goalscorers are hard to find and he's going to get more chances without Arnie. Antonio and Hernandez worked for a spell last season, but we also need to replace Arnautovic. Still, perhaps an injury-proof artificial intelligence Andy Carroll bot might be available soon.

Arnautovic departs: a sad waste of his West Ham career

So Marko Arnautovic has completed his move to Shanghai SIPG. As Elvis Costello once sang, I Hope You're Happy Now. You do wonder how Arnautovic wants to be remembered as a footballer. He's left both Stoke and West Ham in bitter circumstances. With a bit of class from him and his brother he could have had a very different legacy. He's not going to be remembered for a spell in China's PL retirement home, however lucrative. And £120k a week wasn't exactly breadline wages in Britain either.

What's sad is that when motivated he's a cracking player. Marko had a great 2018, first under Moyes and then under Pellegrini. There was that winner against Chelsea, a thunderous goal at the Emirates in a 1-4 defeat, a shot straight through Jordan Pickford, the dismantling of Everton away and the bullying of Man United's Smalling and Jones, a performance that so impressed Jose Mourinho that he wanted to buy him. 

But then came the Christmas offer from China and, bar the final three games, he looked hugely distracted through most of 2019, even after signing a new contract. And we could have done without all that "the fans give me energy" guff. Had Arnautovic given his all at West Ham for two or three seasons he could have been a cult — now the fans will remember him as something much less polite.

Striker light

It seems West Ham are in danger of starting the season with no strikers. Arnautovic surely has to go now he's started agitating for a move again, while Javier Hernandez has also expressed a desire to leave. Andy Carroll has been released, Perez has been sold and forgotten man Jordan Hugill is likely to be moved on. Which could mean that we're down to Michail Antonio or a fit-again Andriy Yarmolenko as emergency striker. 

Pellegrini will have to do some deals in July and either spend big on Maxi Gomez or move for West Brom's Salomon Rondon. He's a bit on the old side at 29 (30 in September) but Rondon does guarantee ten or so Premier League goals a season and is an unselfish player and effective target man. With Anderson, Lanzini and Fornals providing the service he might get a lot more goals than he got at defensive teams like Tony Pulis's West Brom or Rafa Benitez's Newcastle. We could do worse than go for the big Venezuelan.

Time to get rid of Arnie

So Marko Arnautovic has reportedly handed in another transfer request just as pre-season training starts. He seemed happy enough to take a new contract and a pay rise after all the Chinese whispers derailed our season last Christmas. After a period of sulking his form eventually picked up at the end of last season, but he's such a high-maintenance player that it's now time to get rid of him. If he doesn't want to play for West Ham then goodbye. I'd take the £20 million offer (or £25m if we can get it) just to be rid of him. It will leave the club with a big task in signing a quality striker like Maxi Gomez, but better that than destabalise the whole club. And there's always Jordan Hugill… Hasta la vista, Arnie.

Right royal knees-up with Carlton Cole

Our Carlton Cole is right up there with royalty. My pal @matthewgeorgewh tweets that the West Ham website tells how Boston Red Sox outfielder Mookie Betts met “distant relative” the Duchess of Sussex at the London Stadium baseball game against the New York Yankees. The website continues: "It was the second high-profile meeting for Betts during his visit to east London, as the prolific hitter was presented with a West Ham home shirt by former Hammer Carlton Cole at Friday’s workout day.” Must have been a bit of an anti-climax for Betts after meeting a legend like Carlton to then have to do small talk with a minor royal.