Daily WHUFC News - 18th July 2013

Hammers touch down in Germany
WHUFC.com
West Ham United have arrived in Germany for their pre-season tour
17.07.2013

West Ham United have landed in Germany for the beginning of their eleven-day
pre-season tour. Fresh from Tuesday night's 2-1 victory at League One side
Colchester United, Sam Allardyce's men boarded a morning flight from
Heathrow to Frankfurt for the next stage of their pre-season preparations.
The Hammers will first stay in Mainz, where they are due to face Bundesliga
outfit FSV Mainz in a pre-season match on Saturday. That fixture is one of
three to be played on the tour - all against top-flight Bundesliga
opposition. Following the meeting with Mainz on Saturday, the Hammers travel
north to Flensburg, right on the German-Danish border, for a fixture against
Hamburger SV on Tuesday. Following a transfer to central Germany, the tour
concludes with a match against newly-promoted Eintracht Braunschweig on
Saturday 27 July. Shortly after arriving at their Mainz hotel on Wednesday
afternoon, the Hammers squad were put through their paces in a training
session.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
West Ham to decide over Duvan Zapata work-permit appeal
Last Updated: July 17, 2013 9:37am
SSN

West Ham manager Sam Allardyce is still hoping to sign Duvan Zapata but has
ruled out moves for Graham Dorrans and Stewart Downing. The Hammers boss
wants to bring in Zapata, a 22-year-old Colombian striker with Argentine
outfit Estudiantes, but the move has been held up by work permit issues.
"It's whether we think we can get the work permit through, that's the only
thing," Allardyce told Sky Sports. "Based on the fact that he's not a full
international, we would have to go to a hearing. "We'd have to decide in the
next 24 hours whether - on our part or the player's part - that would be
worth doing."

One player Allardyce was happy to rule out was West Brom's Dorrans, after
being linked with a move for the midfielder earlier this week. "No interest
in Graham Dorrans," added Allardyce, after seeing his side win 2-1 against
Colchester United on Tuesday. "Graham is a midfield player and you can see
how many midfielders we had out there today." Downing is another unlikely to
be signing a deal at Upton Park this summer, according to the Hammers boss.
Allardyce claimed: "I wouldn't have thought that we could afford Stewart,
unfortunately."

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
We can't Hammer out Downing deal
Published: 12 hrs ago
The Sun

SAM ALLARDYCE has ruled out a move for Stewart Downing — because he's too
expensive. The West Ham boss was keen to link up Downing with his old
Liverpool team-mate Andy Carroll, who left Anfield to sign a permanent deal
at Upton Park earlier this summer. But Allardyce has given hope of adding
the England winger to his ranks as he is out of the Hammers' price range. He
said: "I wouldn't have thought that we could afford Stewart, unfortunately."
The former Newcastle manager is hopeful of completing a move for Colombian
striker Duvan Zapata, however. He explained: "It's whether we think we can
get the work permit through, that's the only thing. "Based on the fact that
he's not a full international, we would have to go to a hearing. "We'd have
to decide in the next 24 hours whether — on our part or the player's part —
that would be worth doing." Allardyce has also confirmed the club have no
interest in signing West Brom midfielder Graham Dorrans.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
West Ham set to miss out on Inter midfielder Zdravko Kuzmanovic
Daily Express
Published: Wed, July 17, 2013

WEST HAM look to be disappointed in their pursuit of Inter's Zdravko
Kuzmanovic with Malaga now in pole position to sign the midfielder. The
Hammers had hoped to push ahead with a move for Kuzmanovic after Sam
Allardyce admitted he liked the Serbian international but, according to
reports in Italy, now look set to be trumped by Malaga. When asked about
Kuzmanovic on Saturday, Allardyce said: "He is a player I like, but I know
nothing about it so cannot comment." It was thought that a bid of about £5m
may be enough to bring Kuzmanovic to east London. Cross-city rivals AC Milan
were rumoured to be preparing a player exchange deal that would see Antonio
Nocerino joining Inter with Kuzmanovic heading the other way, and there is
also thought to be interest from a German club following a succesful spell
at Stuttgart prior to joining Inter. However, Malaga, with money in their
budget but a hole in their midfield following the sale sale of Isco to Real
Madrid look set to take the 25-year-old to Spain. Kuzmanovic only moved to
Inter from Stuttgart in January, when Arsenal were reportedly also
interested, but has struggled to establish himself in Milan.

Inter coach Walter Mazzarri was thought to be keen to give Kuzmanovic one
more chance to impress during pre-season but now appears happy to let the
player move on. But it now looks unlikely that the destination will be Upton
Park and Sam Allardyce will have to look elsewhere to bring in
reinforcements.
Speaking after Saturday's 2-0 friendly win at Bournemouth, Allardyce said:
"For the first time in eight years, I have got a good squad together right
at the start of pre-season. "We would like to add to that of course,
although it will only be one or two max. Position wise, we need an attacking
player first and then we will see where we go. "At this moment, it depends
on the player who is available. It needs to be a quality player who brings a
lot to the team for us to go after him."

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Downing declares he's staying at Liverpool after West Ham link goes cold
London 24
Wednesday, July 17, 2013
5:56 PM

Transfer news: Liverpool winger Stewart Downing has declared he is staying
with the club despite being linked with a move to West Ham this summer.
Hammers manager Sam Allardyce yesterday played down talk that such a
transfer might happen. And Downing himself has now stressed his happiness
with how things are going for him at Liverpool. The former Aston Villa man,
who started all but one of the Reds' Premier League matches from December 9
onwards last season, told www.liverpoolfc.com: "I'm here to stay. "I'm
enjoying it - especially last season. I got a good run in the team.
Hopefully that will continue, and I need to work hard. "I want it to
continue. It's why I came here - to play in a successful team. I want that
to continue as long as possible."

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

http://vyperz.blogspot.com