Window shopping: Igor in, Aguerd, Emerson and Cornet out

Well, the transfer window has turned out better than it seemed a week ago. The key thing was getting in two young energetic 21-year-old midfielders in Fernandes and Magassa and that gives the season a much more optimistic hue. Potter also brought in Igor Julio from Brighton on loan, who was very Igor to join us having played against West Ham for Fiorentina in Prague. That move also scuppered Crystal Palace selling Guehi to Liverpool. If he's a big bruising centre half who can win balls in the air then that's what we need against teams like Sunderland. 

Nayef Aguerd has gone to Marseille for a reported £20m which isn't bad business even if it was £10m less than we paid for him. I always thought he was a good player who would eventually adapt to the Premier League, but the three games he played this season showed he was still struggling. Emerson has also gone to Marseille for a very low £900,000. You can only assume the club was desperate to get his wages off the books. The 31-year-old Emerson completed the set of European trophies with West Ham and overall did pretty well in his three seasons. While lingering like an odd sock at the bottom of the drawer we have also loaned forgotten Maxwel Cornet to Genoa. 

Potter and Macauley have certainly been hampered by the club being obliged to buy Todibo for an overpriced £36m and then thanks to last summer's spree and the PSR rules having to sell Kudus for £55m before we could buy. Diouf and Hermansen have come in for £20m each and Walker-Peters and Callum Wilson arrived on frees. A lot of fans deplored the Wilson signing but for a season-long deal I think he's a bargain if we can keep him fit. As he showed at Forest he's a really good player.

The other plus is that Lucas Paqueta really did throw his phone away at Forest. The one area where Potter hasn't acted is in signing a young striker, though Fullkrug, Wilson, Bowen and Marshall offer some depth for this season. Overall a lot of older players have been moved on such as Cresswell, Coufal, Ings, Fabianski, Zouma, Antonio and Emerson, while Alvarez has been loaned out. We've spent around £133 million and recouped around £76 million while probably saving a bit on wages. The main aim was to reduce the average age of the side and that has been achieved. Potter now has seven of his own signings in the squad so let's see what he can do with them.

Stuck in the middle

West Ham have been linked with more midfield players than you can shake a rolled-up contract at. This was always the area most in need of attention and the club has been linked with a plethora of talent this summer. Douglas Luiz always seemed unlikely, as did Jacob Ramsey who has since gone to Newcastle and also Jack Grealish, who is now on loan at Everton along with the Grealish sniper. 

The Hammers have recently had a £30 million bid for Southampton's Mateus Fernandes knocked back, with the Saints saying they value him at £50 million, which seems far too much for a player from a relegated side. The club has since come back with an improved offer. 

Meanwhile we seem to have had 57 varieties of bids elsewhere, with a reported £45million bid for Chelsea's Brazilian midfielder Andrey Santos. Another name in the frame is Lille's Ngal'ayel Mukau (the real Mukau?) and also Barcelona's Marc Casado, though whether he would want to leave Las Ramblas for Westfield is questionable.And now the Evening Standard adds Werder Bremen’s Romano Schmid and Lens midfielder Andy Diouf to that extensive list. While we're still waiting on Godot from Beckett FC. The pessimist in me is already thinking we won't get any of them. What is clear is that the next 11 days of the transfer window are vital to the Potter project. 

It looks like Edson Alvarez is about to be loaned to Fenerbache to free up space and Rodriguez could be going to Saudi Arabia. For all the pessimism the Irons have some classy attackers in Bowen, Fullkrug, Paqueta, Summerville and Callum Wilson. But we desperately need that midfield energy to supply them. Is it too late to put out a call on LinkedIn? Or perhaps entice Billy Bonds out of retirement?

One Cummings and many goings at West Ham

Well, not much has happened on the rebuilding front so far this summer. The only signing has been 19-year old striker Daniel Cummings from Celtic. He made his senior Celtic debut as a sub against Aston Villa in the Champions League, but is probably one for the Under-21 side this season. Graham Potter has a record of giving youngsters a chance, so perhaps Cummings might be one for the future along with returning loanees George Earthy, Callum Marshall (who scored nine times for Huddersfield last season) and Freddie Potts.

The squad is certainly looking thin with the departures of Cresswell, Ings, Coufal, Fabianski, Zouma, Soler, Ferguson and it seems Antonio. Much seems to depend on selling Mohammed Kudus to free up some cash. Tottenham have had a £50m bid knocked back but if it's upped to £60m plus then he will surely go. It would be nice to sell Mo to anyone but Spurs, though Chelsea seem to have lost interest. 

The fact is Kudus started brilliantly in 2023-24 but then had a poor season last time round and never seemed to recover from that five-game suspension after being stupidly sent off at Spurs. He tried to take on too many players at times and only scored five goals. Mo's undoubtedly talented but his best position is on the right wing where Jarrod Bowen plays. If WHU can get a good price then it makes sense to sell a player who looks like his ambition lies elsewhere.

The best other options for raising cash might be if Emerson or Nayef Aguerd are  sold, though Potter reportedly likes Aguerd and I'd be happy to see him stay. He might have a mistake in him at times, but they're fewer than Dinos makes. Edson Alvarez might also leave, though having just captained and scored for Mexico as they won the CONCACAF Gold Cup you do wonder, like Sgt Wilson, if that's awfully wise.

We thought we'd won the transfer window last summer so let's remember that early signings don't always work out. Though there has to be hope that in their second seasons we'll see improvements from Kilman, Todibo, Summerville and, if he stays, Fullkrug. What is essential is that Potter and co have clear targets once the Kudus money comes in. It may all go down to deadline day, so let's hope Karren Brady has stocked up on her fax paper from Ryman's.  

Soler power replaces JWP's set-pieces

Well, a late flurry of activity as the transfer window closed. It was surprising to see James Ward-Prowse loaned to Nottingham Forest. He scored seven and assisted seven goals in the league and assisted another four goals in cup competitions last season. James might not have been a starter under Loppy, and he generally played it safe as a central midfielder, but he never gets injured and would have been a great option to bring on and fling in set pieces when chasing games. 

More positively Lopetegui has managed to sign Carlos Soler on loan from Paris Saint Germain for the season and he clearly rates him above JWP. Soler has 14 caps for Spain, a hipster beard and a couple of title medals with PSG so he's obviously a handy player. And this is probably a signal that J-Lo no longer wants West Ham to be seen as a set-piece side. Though having failed to see Ward-Prowse score with a free kick all last season what are the odds that he bags one in his first game for Forest?

Nayef Aguerd has been loaned out for the season to Real Sociedad. There's clearly a lot going on behind the scenes and presumably Nayef hadn't settled in England. But Moyes loved him when he arrived and it seems too soon to give up on a £30 million player who makes fewer mistakes than the promising but raw Dinos Mavropanos.

The other departure is Maxwel Cornet to Southampton, which will leave my pal Matt gutted. Cornet looked a good player at Burnley and scored some cracking goals, but never got going at West Ham after an early injury, though he did a good job of gatecrashing the Europa Conference League celebrations.

But overall it's been a good window with the squad left stronger after Tim Stedten's work. WHU have signed Kilman, Todibo, Wan-Bissaka, Soler, Rodriguez, Guilherme, Fullkrug, Foderingham  and Summerville, while Ward-Prowse, Aguerd, Cornet, Johnson, Ogbonna, Benrahma, Kehrer and probably Zouma have departed. Now Lopetegui just has to mould this lot into a team, 

Stick your blue flag up your transfer window

Let's hope for the sake of football that West Ham beat Chelsea in our next home game. Chelsea have signed 17 players and spent a total of £550 million this season. Their gross transfer expenditure of £289 million in the window was more than all the combined clubs of La Liga, Serie A and the Bundesliga. Owner Todd Boehly's strategy is to use creative accounting to spread the cost of the deals over eight-year contracts (next season they'll only be allowed to spread costs over five years) and keep within the financial fair play rules. It's a risky game as you can end up with a lot of dud players on long-term contracts. Imagine if West Ham had signed Anderson, Haller, Hugill, Roberto, Ajeti and Jack Wilshere on eight-year deals... It's surprising to see Graham Potter mixed up in all this as at Brighton he was known for sensible management. His biggest problem will be keeping a massive squad happy. And the good news is that only 16 of them can play against the Irons.

Hammers spend big in window of opportunity

Well, it's certainly been quite a rebuilding operation with West Ham signing eight players this summer. The squad looks a lot stronger with the signing of Paquet, Emerson, Scamacca, Cornet, Areola, Downes, Kehrer and Aguerd. The players who have left were all either retiring (Noble), under-achieving (Diop) or limited at the top level (Fredericks, Yarmolemko, Kral), while the disappointing Vlasic has been loaned out along with Arthur Masuaku. Though thankfully Craig 'Ballon d'Orson' has not been sold despite late Wolves interest — he's been magnificent for us the last two seasons.

In total the Irons have spent something like £170 million and only recouped £15 million from the sale of Diop. Where the money has come from is something of a mystery, though Moyes had some cash saved down the back of the sofa from not buying a striker for 18 months. Sullivan and Gold aren't known for their lavish spending (apart from the Pellegrini splurge) so perhaps some of the cash has come from part-owner Daniel Kretinsky. 

If the signings fail or another pandemic hits you have to hope the club can take the hit, though ground capacity has increased and the club has the revenue from two European campaigns. And hopefully it's all still within UEFA Financial Fair Pay regulations, though presumably we can't keep spending at this rate. But the board have certainly shown ambition and backed Moyes, for which they deserve credit. Now we just need the signings to gel and fit into the club ethos. The players looked exhausted at the end of last season and reinforcements should freshen up the whole club.

Failing to prepare

Maybe WHU should use the Boris defence: "We didn't know there was a transfer window and we didn't think it applied to us." There has to be something seriously wrong with the club's transfer policy if we can play a year with only one striker. It seems like we made a late bid to loan Jesse Lingard (never looked likely given United's stance) and made a £40m bid for Benfica's Darwin Nunez, but only on Sunday night. Ex-WHU Employee also claims we went after Duvan Zapata from Atalanta at 7pm yesterday, which was way too late. 

I can see the need for Moyes to be careful with signings given Pellegrini's record, but we've known in the summer and again in January that we need a back-up striker and are a man down in the squad with Ogbonna's injury — though maybe Alese or Baptiste can fill in. There's so much at stake here with a Europa League and FA Cup run still on and a tilt at the top four. But by not adding to the squad we're saying we're happy to be mid-table. If Antonio gets crocked then we are back to playing Bowen out of position or giving another chance to Perkins or Odubeko. Aston Villa, Everton, Newcastle, Spurs, Brighton, Palace and Burnley have all managed to sign players. We just have to hope that Moyes has some major signings lined up for the summer and that this inaction doesn't come back to haunt us.

A vital six days for West Ham

We have six days left until the transfer window closes on Jan 31 and it's vital West Ham act. It's all very well for Moyes to say that "sometimes making the decision not to sign a play can be more of a test" than signing a player to appease the fans. But the fact remains WHU still only have one striker in Antonio, and we are a hamstring pull, a dose of Covid or an international duty injury away from the whole season being derailed. 

It's not often West Ham are in with a chance of making the top four, but now we have Wolves coming up the league, Arsenal and Spurs getting results with games in hand and Aston Villa strengthening with Coutinho. Getting any signing at all through the door would be a boost to the squad — and prove to Rice and Bowen that we are ambitious. Of course we don't want to make more expensive mistakes — like Ajeti, Wilshere, Hugill, Haller, Anderson, Yarmolenko et al — but the club also can't afford to stand still when we are still in the Europa League and FA Cup and likely to play 60-odd games. Even if it means paying over the odds we need to sign someone.

Still striker light

So West Ham have ended the transfer window without a second striker. It's odd we didn't go for Josh King who has gone on loan to Everton. With 17 games left that's a big burden on Michail Antonio's dodgy hamstrings. The alternatives appear to be playing loan signing Jesse Lingard or Said Benrahma as a false nine, sticking Yarmolenko up top (he has played as a striker in Ukraine) or giving young Mipo Odubeko a full debut. 

What is clear is that Moyes clearly thought Haller was an unhappy player who didn't fit his system and wanted him out. While it also seems he doesn't rate King — and after Brexit it's much more difficult to sign a top class player from Europe. Moyes has always been methodical and analytical with transfers and is thinking long-term rather than short. He has earned our trust after a great first half of the season so we have to assume he knows what he is doing. 

The board maintain that Moyes was given £20m plus to spend on a striker during the window but couldn't find the right player. The test will come in the summer to see if he really does sign that top striker. If Moyes has resisted some suggested deals from David Sullivan and his agent friends that aren't right for the team then all well and good; but it's still a massive gamble to end the season with just one recognised striker.

Rice stays, Wilshere goes as WHU squad left looking thin

Well, at least Chelsea didn't come in with a large bid for Declan Rice before the transfer window closed. It's a big bonus to keep Declan after all those rumours and Vladimir Coufal looks to be a good signing on the evidence of the win at Leicester. While at the start of the window securing Tomas Soucek for £19m looks like good business. 

On the other hand, the board hasn't kept its promise of investing all the £18m Grady Diangana money in new players. Burnley were always unlikely to release James Tarkowski for £30m while Chelsea's Rudiger was never going to want to come, Fofana went to Leicester and Chelsea's Tomori turned down a season's loan just before the deadline.

Releasing the £100k-a-week Jack Wilshere was the right thing to do, even though it has cost a reputed £3.6 million to pay off his contract. You feel sorry for Jack with his injury record, but he just doesn't look mobile anymore and he was never going to get in team ahead of Rice, Soucek and Noble. It was a calamitous signing by Manuel Pellegrini and it wasn't like he hadn't been warned that Wilshere was injury-prone. Wilshere clearly had skill, and was a great young player at Arsenal, but his best hope now is a pay-as-you-play deal.

The other departures leave the WHU squad looking very thin. Josh Cullen has gone to Anderlecht for around £1million. He did a decent job at Charlton and looked a Championship player to me, but even so he might have been a useful squad player had he stayed. 

Reserve striker Silva has gone on loan and it looks like Anderson is going to be loaned to Porto. This summer the club has lost Zabeleta, Ngakia, Sanchez, Hugill, Ajeti, Diangana, Cullen and Wilshere and loaned out Silva and Anderson. There's certainly some dead wood there, but only two replacements have been signed.

If we take the X1 who started at Leicester, the only other squad players left are Diop, Noble, Haller, Fredericks, Yarmolenko, Lanzini, Snodgrass, Johnson and Randolph, making it a 20-man squad.The big worry is the lack of strikers. If Antonio is injured we have only Haller, who can't play on his own.

There is still time to buy players from the Football League and you'd like to think that the Hammers have a few signings lined up — though knowing the lack of an efficient recruitment department that might not be so. Moyes has bought well with Bowen, Soucek and Coufal but we need more bodies before the inevitable injury-crisis hits.

Batman fails to arrive

Well, an underwhelming transfer window, as it was for most PL teams, who are sensibly opting not to make panic buys at inflated prices. For most of deadline day West Ham were said to be in for a loan of Chelsea's Michy Batshuayi, who eventually went to Palace. Apparently he was asking for £160k a week which WHU refused to pay — and really, the last thing we need is another short-term mercenary. Belgian international Batshuayi came with a big reputation at Chelsea having signed for £33 million rom Gotham City, but never cemented a starting place and after a promising half-season loan at Dortmund he has only scored one in 15 games for Valencia, so he would still have been an expensive gamble. 

At least not signing the Batman means that we have refused to sell Hernandez and Perez, which means that allied to Arnautovic, Carroll and Antonio the club has five strikers for the rest of the season.

What was stranger to understand was that Pellegrini did not reinforce his ailing defence. We're down to two fit centre backs, one of whom Ogbonna, is looking way off form and worryingly slow. There's no option to play five at the back unless Cresswell is shifted into the middle and Masuaku clearly can't defend in a conventional back four. Surely we could have picked up a decent defender on a loan deal? Another central midfielder might have helped too.

The only signing has been Nasri, which could be a very shrewd piece of business on a free. One positive is that at least WHU have avoided a panic buy like Jordan Hugill, who cost £8m in the last window and was never started in a match. And we've also avoided re-signing Havard Nordtveit, who has strangely enough turned up at Fulham…

What do West Ham need from the window?

West Ham have had a good start to the transfer window by signing Samir Nasri on a free, who should give the side some flair if Anderson isn't firing. So what else do the Hammers need? Much will depend on who is available, with players overpriced at this time of year. Left back is still a problem — Masuaku and Cresswell are decent going forward but struggle defensively. We also need a long-term replacement for the admirable Zabaleta and I would have thought a loan deal for Liverpool's Nathaniel Clyne might have been an option before Bournemouth nabbed him. WHU are also short in central midfield if anything happens to Rice, Noble or Obiang, which is why Pellegrini is said to be after former Cardiff player Gary Medel. While there are rumours Perez could be going back to Spain, which might make another move for a striker a possibility. Rumours of swapping Carroll for Jonjo Shelvey appear unlikely, though you never know. It should be an interesting month.

Who are the players likely to leave West Ham?

Now that West Ham’s unprecedented £100m spending splurge appears to be over you wonder who will be sold from the squad to try and recoup some of the money before August 9. Jordan Hugill must be a likely candidate to be sold, having cost £8m but never started a game — symbolising all that was wrong with the pre-director of football scattergun approach to signings. He should still be worth at least £5 million and is a proven Championship scorer. You feel sorry for the way the lad has been treated, but he’s unlikely to play under Pellegrini. 

Another person likely to go is Sam Byram, now Fredericks has been signed. He still has admirers from his days at Leeds and could do a job in the Championship. Robert Snodgrass is another signing who hasn’t really been given a chance and would be in demand with lower level clubs, having done well at Aston Villa on loan last season. Josh Cullen will also surely depart to the lower leagues for a similar fee to the £1.5m raised from selling Reece Burke to Hull City.

Bigger names to depart might be Antonio, now Anderson has arrived. Though personally, despite two seasons of injuries, I think Mikhail’s too good a player to let go to the likes of Crystal Palace. Cheikhou Kouyate might also be a candidate to depart if Obiang remains the main holding midfielder. He’s been up and down in form for two seasons and might fetch £15 million as a Senegal international.

Two other candidates for selling would be Andy Carroll and Winston Reid, though with both being out for three months it’s unlikely anyone will come in for them. Ogbonna could raise a fair price but is too good a player to leave, despite the arrival of Diop and Balbuena. Adrian would fetch a decent price too, but I’d prefer to keep both him and Fabianski. Edimilson Fernandes is another squad player who might raise a bit of cash, but really our squad is still quite small by Premier League standards and there’s not a huge amount of room for manoeuvre.

What the club mustn’t do is cash in on Arnautovic and get an easy £50 million from Man United. But these are interesting times and it will be intriguing to see who finally departs.

Race storm, player unrest and missed signings

It's an embarrassing morning to be a West Ham fan. "Race storm engulfs West Ham" was the headline on the front page of last night's Evening Standard and today's papers have more coverage of Africa-gate. Jacob Steinberg in the Guardian writes that Tony Henry's alleged comments about not signing African players have been a topic of much discussion in the dressing room. Credit to Cheikhou Kouyate for putting an "African and proud" selfie up on Instagram, which was liked by Pedro Obiang, Arthur Masuaku, Adrian and Manuel Lanzini. 

So we now have a rift between the players and club. Henry's position is surely untenable, but the worrying thing is who was copied into his email and who else knew about this. There's also the issue of who leaked the email to the press and what their motivation was. The Sun reports that the FA is investigating and can ask to see all emails and documents relating to recruitment.   

Meanwhile we're learning more about a number of failed deadline day signings. The Dendoncker saga doesn't appear to be the club's fault as the player wanted to come, but Anderlecht changed their mind about selling. 

West Ham were also trying to sign Leicester's Slimani writes the Guardian's Jacob Steinberg, but the deal was apparently scuppered because Leicester's owners had taken offence after Karren Brady wrote a piece in her Sun column claiming that Leicester's chairman was seen settling a large bill at "London's most expensive wine shop". She had since apologised and the matter was thought to have been resolved. It's a petty reaction from Leicester, but also a sign that Brady needs to be much more discrete about matters affecting West Ham. For example, her column recently had a needless dig at Robert Snodgrass who is still a West Ham player.

New signings Joao Mario and Jordan Hugill must wonder what they have got themselves into. Still, apart from the racism claims, the player unrest and the botched signings, the transfer window went rather well. 

What do West Ham need from the window?

So the transfer window is upon us and Moyes is rumoured to have a budget of £20 million. One thing the Hammers need is another creative midfielder to take the pressure off Manuel Lanzini. An intriguing name mentioned is Newcastle's Jonjo Shelvey, who has a suspect temperament but at his best can score long-range goals and play penetrating through balls. He's also a Harold Hill lad so might fancy a return home. A bit of power in central midfield from the likes of Watford’s Doucoure (though he'd take some prising away) would be useful. Bournemouth's Harry Arter is also a name that keeps coming up and he's an underrated player who might do a job for WHU. 

The squad is also struggling with ageing and injured centre-backs and Swansea's Alfie Mawson might be a promising signing. Could the enigmatic Andre Ayew be used as bait? Sunderland's Lamina Kone would be a gamble. He looked a great defender for Sunderland under Allardyce but then seemed to sulk for most of last season under Moyes when denied a move. 

With Byram out another right back to cover for Zabaleta might be a target. It's possible Moyes will opt for a striker too. Ex-Chelsea star Andre Schurrle has been mentioned, a World Cup winner who has scored in a World Cup Semi-Final. A big name, but he might not be the out and out goalscorer we need. Danny Ings looked a good prospect at Burnley, but after his long-term injury at Liverpool might not instantly adjust to regular football.

The other thing we need to do is unload clearly unhappy players like Diafra Sakho, who must be affecting squad morale. With a good window West Ham should be capable of getting up to mid-table in a congested bottom half. Though a bad window will mean a relegation struggle.

A decent-ish window for the Hammers

Not a lot of action on deadline day beyond Reece Oxford being loaned to Reading. Scott Hogan has ended up going to Aston Villa for £12 million. You wonder why the club made earlier offers and then pulled out of a deal at such a late stage. It seems Slaven (or David Sullivan?) decided he'd go with what he had rather than risk £12m on an unproven Championship striker. 

Bilic will be praying that Andy Carroll stays fit and his new partnership with Antonio continues to prosper. Having invested £20.5 million in Andre Ayew it also seems sensible to give him a run and try to get him scoring in the second half of the season. With Calleri (who might look less awful now he's got a goal) and the promising Fletcher as back-up Bilic has decided that five strikers is enough.

No right-back has arrived, which again is a case of gambling on Sam Byram staying fit and making the position his own. The key thing is that with 28 points in the bag we've been under much less pressure to make panic buys and if West Ham do need to strengthen they should be able to buy for better prices in the summer

Payet has gone of course, which was always likely to happen when we failed to challenge for the top six, but WHU have signed two quality payers who are proven in the Premier League. Jose Fonte is a fine defender who did really well at Southampton while Robert Snodgrass adds scoring ability from the flanks and looks like he'll play with pride and hunger. 

But the biggest bonus for the Hammers has been finding a bit of team spirit since Payetgate — something you can'y buy in the window. We had decent players already, but now they're starting to play like a team again.

Transfer window thoughts

My thoughts on the transfer window can be seen in Sunday's Observer. It's all been a bit scatter-gun so far. Zaza should be a good signing, although would we have bought Ayew if Zaza was already secured? Masuaku looks a decent left back and Fletcher is promising, while we haven't seen Fernandes yet. But so far Tore, Nordveit, Calleri and Feghouli don't look significant upgrades on what we already have. But still, there's long way to go. Click on the link to read.

A good window for the Hammers

With the late news that Matt Jarvis has gone on loan to Norwich for the season, West Ham's summer dealing is complete. It's been a good window. Ten senior players have come in (plus Stephen Hendrie from Hamilton and young Martin Samuelson from Man City), while nine have departed. 

The defence has been strengthened by the signings of Ogbonna, Jenkinson and Randolph, while in midfield we've added a great player in Dimitri Payet, Obiang who looks effective as a defensive shield, Alex Song whom we know on his day is one of the best holding players in the league and Lanzini, who had a great game at Liverpool.And we've finally strengthened the attack with Jelavic, Moses and Antonio. West Ham have spent around £34 million and recouped maybe £7 million from the sales of Downing and Maiga, so credit to Sullivan and Gold for their investment in the team.

Of the departures, only Downing is a possible regret. We've released or sold the ageing Kevin Nolan and squad players and loanees such as Cole, Demel, Nene, Jaaskelainen and Maiga. Diego Poyet has gone out on loan as has Matt Jarvis, who never matched his near £10 million price tag, though there were times when he looked a decent player — if we'd had some more effective strikers and attacking midfielders to finish off bis crosses early on he might have gained in confidence. But latterly he seemed to find a defender with every cross and just hasn't scored enough goals.

The squad is looking much stronger and it's interesting to debate what is now our best term. If everyone's fit (which never happens at West Ham!) then I'd go for: Adrian; Jenkinsion, Ogbonna, Reid, Cresswell; Kouyate, Song, Noble, Payet; Sakho, Carroll. But that's leaving out Valencia, Obiang, Lanzini, Tomkins, Collins, Oxford, Amalfitano, Zarate, Jelavic, Antonio and Moses, most of whom could make a claim for a first-team place. Steady on, I'm almost feeling optimistic…

Fab four?

Some seemingly good business by Big Sam, as we've recruited four new players after selling Parker in Diop, Demel, Lansbury and Bentley.

Guy Demel (will Elton John fans in the Bobby Moore stand come up with A Song for Guy?) can play on the right of defence or midfield and has won the league at Hamburg. The 30-year-old from the Ivory Coast looks a formidable size too...

Henri Lansbury is an England under-21 international at Arsenal and will add more depth to the squad. He's already had loan spells and scored goals at this level for Norwich and Scunthorpe.

While I'm excited by the season-long loan signing of David Bentley, once tipped as the new David Beckham, but possibly a victim of the, erm, Baby Bentley culture.

He was overpriced at £15 million when he joined Spurs, played out of position and then unable to displace Aaron Lennon. But we know from his time at Blackburn that he's a great crosser and free kick specialist. And anyone who saw the 50-yard goal he scored for Spurs at Arsenal knows he's got ability. Could be one of those undervalued Moneyball players that we need.

Slightly disappointed to see Junior Stanislas join Burnley as he's an Academy product who scored a few goals for the club and has never really been given an extended run, but guess we have to recoup some wages for the new signings.

Overall, Allardyce has attracted Premiership quality players and been decisive in the market so far. Seems like we have a manager who knows what he's doing at last.

Window of opportunity?

Well, today's Guardian reckons we missed out on Yakubu and Pompey's Marc Wilson as we're skint.

But we can't really complain too much. We've kept Parker and Cole, and spent £8 million, recruiting eight new players — Hitzlsperger, Barrera, Piquionne, Reid, Ben Haim, Obinna, Jacobsen and the memorably-named reserve keeper Ruud Boffin — while raising £2 million through the sales of Diamanti and Daprela. Which isn't too bad for a club that's £100 million in debt.

Maybe not ideal, as Barrera, Obinna and Reid are untried at Premier League level, but we might soon be fielding a side of:

GREEN; JACOBSEN, REID, UPSON, ILUNGA; BARRERA, HITZLSPERGER, PARKER; PIQUIONNE, COLE, OBINNA.

That would be six changes from the Old Trafford side and surely must be some kind of improvement. We hope.