Daily WHUFC News - 26th July 2017

West Ham have made four quality signings, says Shaka Hislop
WHUFC.com

Joe Hart and Javier Hernandez will give West Ham United a welcome boost at both ends of the pitch, says former Hammers favourite Shaka Hislop. Now a successful Premier League pundit in the United States, Hislop keeps a close eye on West Ham from the other side at the Atlantic, and has been hugely impressed with the business the Club has done in the transfer market. Speaking exclusively to whufc.com, the 2006 FA Cup finalist believes his former side can challenge for a place in the Premier League's top seven or eight if their stars align next season. "I'm looking forward to the season," he began. "I cannot remember a transfer window when West Ham made so many quality signings so early in the window, signings that all make the team better. "I was a little bit disappointed with last season but, with the teething issues around moving into the new stadium, it was understandable. However, I am delighted that the Club has stuck with Slaven Bilic and I am hoping he will be the manager of the team for a long time moving forward. "This transfer window has been a significant step forward because the Board said they wanted to get quality in, and that's exactly what they have done."

The captures of Mexico's all-time leading scorer Hernandez and fellow goalkeeper Hart have particularly enthused Hislop, who championed West Ham's move for the England stopper ahead of his season-long loan switch from Manchester City. "Of all the signings, I think Joe's is the most important for us," he observed. "I am biased in that regard but Joe ticks a number of boxes when it comes to signing a top-class goalkeeper. "He has the carrot of a World Cup 12 months away and, being aware that there is a pack of young goalkeepers eager to take his number one jersey, I am sure he will produce the performances that ensure he is England's first-choice at Russia 2018. "His qualities are there for everybody to see. Manchester City fans recognise his leadership qualities, both on the pitch and in the dressing room, which you miss when things are not going well. "Up front, Javier Hernandez is an instinctive finisher who will get you goals. He can be a streaky scorer but, when he is on form, he is almost impossible to stop. "It's going to be tough for West Ham to break into the Premier League's top six, but if any clubs are going to surprise those above them, it will be either West Ham or Everton, for me. "If things go well and the new signings slot in and the players avoid injuries, then I believe West Ham should be finishing in the top half and challenging for the top eight."

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Dan Kemp relishing Slovakia tests
WHUFC.com

Winger Dan Kemp believes the intense training camp organised for the U23s will prepare them in the best possible way ahead of a long season. Kemp scored the winner in the team's 2-1 victory over Dagenham and Redbridge on Saturday before the young Hammers jetted off to Slovakia a day later. Terry Westley's players face two matches in Eastern Europe, the first being against Spartak Trnava on Tuesday evening (18.30 BST), and Kemp believes the upcoming tests will prove vital when the regular season begins. "To go away, it breaks the pre-season up a little bit. It's nice to go and experience different scenery," he said. "It will be very hard out there because we're playing against two very good teams and we'll be training very hard to get ready for a long season." "But all the boys are looking forward to the trip. It'll be great for bonding as well, and hopefully we can pick up some good things in Slovakia."

Kemp's winner in the triumph over the Daggers last weekend earned the youngsters their first victory of pre-season. It will be very hard out there because we're playing against two very good teams and we'll be training very hard to get ready for a long season.

The Hammers took the lead in the first half after a neat finish from Jahmal Hector-Ingram but were harshly pegged back late in the second after a penalty drew the hosts level.

However, the U23s superiority over the course of the 90 minutes was rewarded in the dying embers after Kemp's composed finish.

"It was a great feeling," Kemp admitted. "Obviously it was very late in the game so to come up with a winning goal and to celebrate in front of our fans was brilliant.

"It was a great win and good performance from the boys. We played to our philosophy and moved the ball really well. We created a lot of chances and, to be fair, it probably should have been more comfortable than it was. But the most important thing is that we played well and it's also nice to get the win.

Kemp's progression over the last 12 months has seen him go from being a regular in the U18s to a Dylan Tombides Award nominee, and eventually to an England youth international.

But the youngster remains grounded as he prepares for another crucial season in his development.

"Last season was great but I've now put that behind me and now it's time to keep on progressing and do even better this year. I need to make sure I cement a place in the U23s team and do the things I was doing last year even better.

"I think my plan is to stay here and fight for my place in the U23s and hopefully I can do really well again and then we'll see where it goes from there."

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Hammers boss Bilic hails Hernandez signing
WHUFC.com

West Ham United manager Slaven Bilic has revealed Javier 'Chicharito' Hernandez's move to east London was the result of two years of hard work and patience.

Bilic, who hailed the Board after West Ham completed the signing of Mexico's all-time leading marksman on Monday, explained how he initially tried to bring Hernandez to the Club following his appointment in summer 2015.

However, the 29-year-old opted to join German club Bayer Leverkusen, where he continued his prolific ways before agreeing to join forces with Bilic earlier this week.

"I am happy that the deal is complete as it's a great signing for us," the manager told whufc.com. "I spoke to him a couple of seasons ago when I joined West Ham, when he was at Manchester United and they wanted to sell him.

"I wanted him but then he opted for Leverkusen, but we have had a good relationship since then. So when the opportunity comes now after the season and I found out he could be available, then I called him and he was happy straight away.

"From two years ago until now we had the same conversation, so it helped, of course. There were a few other clubs interested but we are delighted he opted for us."

When asked to name the attributes the former Manchester United striker will bring to his team, Bilic reeled off a long list of qualities that will undoubtedly boost the Hammers – as will his fellow new boys Pablo Zabaleta, Joe Hart and Marko Arnautovic.

"He brings energy, makes movement up front and he brings running behind the defence, he brings pace, he brings quality and he brings goals and that's it, basically!" Super Slav smiled. "He is proven in the Premier League. It's very important that we signed him.

"We have got four players in and all of them know the Premier League. Although Joe Hart was in Italy last season, he knows the league, as does Chicharito who was at Man United. So it's important that they don't need to get to know the league.

"We are delighted with all four signings."

After identifying the need to target quality over quantity this summer, Bilic hailed the Board for delivering on his request, with four would-be starters arriving since the start of the month.

"We were working on these three transfers but we didn't talk about them," the Croatian continued. "We worked on them and all three of them we made, which is a great achievement for the Club and for the Board to have done all those deals. We've done them quite early, so we've done the job, basically.

"Now, something else can happen, if someone goes then someone will come in, but the majority of the team and squad are set.

"It's exactly what I said at the end of last season – we didn't need squad players unless someone goes out, then someone comes in. We needed players who are going to improve our game and our first eleven, by that I mean our first 14, 15 or 16 players who are there, and these four players are exactly that.

"All of them are at a good age and all of them are very hungry and very, very motivated and have something to prove so, on paper, it looks very promising and optimistic."

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Javier Hernandez potentially West Ham's best ever signing, says David Sullivan
By PA Sport
Last Updated: 25/07/17 1:07pm
SSN

West Ham joint-chairman David Sullivan believes Javier Hernandez could be one of the best players ever to have signed for the club. The Hammers on Monday completed what could be one of the deals of the summer, landing the former Manchester United and Real Madrid striker for £16m from Bayer Leverkusen.
Mexico international Hernandez has agreed a three-year contract at the London Stadium to end manager Slaven Bilic's search for a proven goalscorer. And Sullivan told talkSPORT: "I think he is potentially the best player who has ever come to the club. "In recent years, he is probably the best-proven goalscorer we have signed since we have been at the club. "He's done it in the Premier League with Manchester United. We were lucky he only had a year left on his contract with his club and that allows you to negotiate a deal. "We tried very hard to get him two years ago but unfortunately he chose the German club ahead of us."
West Ham have also brought in Joe Hart, Pablo Zabaleta and Marko Arnautovic this summer, but Sullivan played down a potential move for Arsenal's Jack Wilshere.
"We are very optimistic with the four players we have signed, we think they will make a huge difference," he added. "I can't comment on players from other clubs but what I would say is midfield is not a position we are looking for. "We have a lot of good midfielders at the club, but never say 'never'."

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Javier Hernandez relishing West Ham season opener at Man Utd
By Lyall Thomas
Last Updated: 25/07/17 10:02am
SSN

Javier Hernandez says he cannot wait to face his former club Manchester United on the opening weekend of the new Premier League season. The Mexico striker has joined West Ham on a three-year deal from Bayer Leverkusen, who signed him from United for £7.3m in 2015. Hernandez - who returns to Old Trafford for Sky Sports' first Super Sunday bill of 2017/18 - admits he was "desperate" to return to the Premier League and wants to repay West Ham boss Slaven Bilic for making consistent efforts to sign him. "I think I will be a little bit more excited than my team-mates to be back at Old Trafford," he said. "To start the season with my new team there is important and I will be happy to be there. "I was desperate to come back to the best league in the world. It will help me a lot to improve as a player and person. We want to fight to aim for the Europa competitions. "Slaven Bilic was a massive part of why I joined. Since I joined Bayer Leverkusen he wanted me, he spoke with me. He did everything he could to bring me here but couldn't for a lot of reasons and now I am here I want to repay him. "My aim is to give my best, to try to give back all the confidence and support from my manager and the board, and help my team get as far as we can this season. "You can see in this window they've spent very well on good players because we want to be better compared to the last season." Hernandez spent six seasons at Manchester United after being signed by Sir Alex Ferguson, scoring 59 goals in 157 appearances for the club.

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Why Javier 'Chicharito' Hernandez can be West Ham's baby-faced assassin
TOM DOYLE
Evening Standard

For a man with movie star looks, Javier Hernandez must still prove he is a genuine leading man in the Premier League. West Ham's new £16million striker has played for both Manchester United and Real Madrid, is the top goalscorer in Mexico's history, and has starred for Bayer Leverkusen for the last two seasons, but even his nickname hints a player waiting in the wings. Hernandez is affectionately known as 'Chicharito' - the 'Little Pea' to green-eyed father and former El Tri international Javier 'Chicaro' Hernandez - not exactly a moniker to induce fear in defenders' hearts. But in a bloated transfer market where Manchester United have paid north of £75million for a regular goalscorer Romelu Lukaku, the 29-year-old may just prove to be the rarest of things - value for money. Hernandez now has the first-choice Premier League role he always craved at Old Trafford, and the chance to prove he can be more than just a super sub to Europe's elite.
Jose Mourinho admitted that if he been United boss instead of Louis van Gaal in 2015, Chicharito would not have been sold - a fair point given that for for all of Zlatan Ibrahimovic's 28 goals last season, the Red Devils badly lacked a poacher as they laboured to sixth with 10 home draws. Mourinho will see Hernandez in action in United's first game of the season as the Hammers make the trip north to Old Trafford on August 13, with the striker due to make his Hammers bow in front of what will be a hugely appreciative United crowd. Chicharito appeared to be the perfect signing for Sir Alex Ferguson's squad back in 2010, winning the coveted Sir Matt Busby Player of the Year award from the United fans as he scored 20 goals in all competitions in his debut United season. He was a striking cliche - always in the right place at the right time - with his first competitive goal for the club a comical Charity Shield effort he somehow scuffed off his own chest into the net while falling over. The south American's infectious enthusiasm and million-dollar smile were the icing on the cake for the merchandising money-making machine United were becoming. But his open manner also helped to mask a true predatory instinct, more six-yard shark than fox in the box as he flashed defenders a set of pearly whites before ghosting away to celebrate a scuffed finish. A natural poacher with a knack for the odd surprise, his stunning backwards header against Stoke in 2010 lives long in the memory for many a United supporter.
For the Old Trafford faithful, it was the second coming of the 'Baby-Faced Assassin' Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. But while Solskjaer was content with his role as a United super sub - with a 1999 Champions League Final-winning goal from the bench defining his career - Hernandez needed more, and was left disappointed. He never bettered his first-season tally at United, and netted just four league goals during David Moyes' ill-fated 2013-14 spell. The forward's trademark beaming smile turned to a scowl as he struggled for minutes and goals, and a loan move to Real Madrid worked for all parties in 2014. Hernandez again faltered at the Bernabeu as he failed to displace Real's Galacticos. Despite a decent run-in and public pleas for a permanent home, Hernandez failed to convince Los Blancos he was the real deal. His exit from United and unsuccessful push for a Madrid move suggested that in the eyes of football's ruthless elite, he a player that they can afford to live without. Hernandez wins fans and helps to boost shirt sales, but as James Rodriguez also found out at Madrid, he has the air of the boy-next-door you'd gladly see marry into your family - one to love, not to fear. He returned to Old Trafford in the summer of 2015, and was duly sold to Bayer Leverkusen for around £7m - a steal given the rapidly inflating transfer market, and a move which kickstarted his career. Hernandez left the Solskjaer super-sub tag behind at Leverkusen, netting 17 Bundesliga goals and 26 in total for Leverkusen - his highest ever tally for a single campaign. He hit another 11 in 2016-17 but Leverkusen limped to a 12th-placed finish. If a move to east London initially appears to be a step down, the summer exits of Hakan Calhanoglu, Omer Topak and Kyriakos Papadopolous suggest Hernandez is getting out before things become terminal at the BayArena. That has allowed West Ham to make their move and finally land the reliable striker they have needed for years.
In Slaven Bilic, Hernandez will have the right manager. Chicharito responds well to an Fergie-esque arm around the shoulder, so it was no surprise to see him exit Old Trafford soon after Van Gaal and Ryan Giggs' infamous knowing stare following a penalty miss against Club Brugge in 2015. Mourinho's suggestion that Bilic's men are potential title rivals may prove to be a little far-fetched, but Hernandez said he was "desperate" to join the club after seeing their ambitious transfer moves this summer. Following on from Pablo Zabaleta, Joe Hart and Marko Arnautovic, Hernandez is yet another astute signing as West Ham seek to reshape their identity as another 'historic' club reliving past glories. The Hammers have had problems settling in at London Stadium, but Chicharito will boost the club's profile in the US and South America while offering match-going fans a thrilling presence to boost the atmosphere - and an outlet for the likes of Manuel Lanzini, Arnautovic and Michail Antonio. The partnership is also one that West Ham and Hernandez both crucially need. Many players and coaches rightly welcome the adoration of fans, but the elite need to be loathed - Cristiano Ronaldo thrived on the whistles of the English crowds as it confirmed him as the most dangerous man on the pitch. There is a well-known Manchester United fan banner on display at games which reads: "Hated, adored, never ignored". For too long West Ham - like Hernandez - have been adored by a vocal fanbase, but too easy to ignore in the wider game. A match-winner for Chicharito at Old Trafford would help the Little Pea and his new club earn a little more of that much-needed hatred.

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Dimitri Payet is a flawed individual, he will never fulfil his potential, says West Ham's David Sullivan
ALEX YOUNG
Evening Standard

West Ham co-owner David Sullivan has branded Dimitri Payet "a flawed individual" who will never fulfil his potential or be signed by "big clubs." Payet joined a stellar debut season with West Ham but demanded to be sold halfway through his second campaign after being disillusioned with the club's fight against relegation. A January move back to Marseille for £25million was agreed after Payet refused to play for the Hammers, with Sullivan then going public with his preference to have "made an example of him." Six months on and Sullivan has reiterated his stance but says Slaven Bilic's insistence that Payet be removed led to the sale, and says the player's behaviour has held him back throughout his career. "We knew Dimitri was flawed, and that's why we got him for £10.5million," Sullivan told talkSPORT. "It was a fantastic buy, but we knew we bought a flawed individual and someone who could well go on strike – he had done it all before.
"That's why he never reached his full potential as a player and why big clubs have steered clear of him. But, I've got to say he was a fantastic servant for the club. He gave us 18 wonderful months, particularly the first 12 months. "We didn't want to sell him but we got around two and half times what we paid for him and you've got to say it's good business. It's not what we wanted but, as a club like West Ham, sometimes we have to sell. "We wouldn't have sold him unless we had to. We had meeting after meeting with him - he wanted out and the manager wanted him out. He didn't want to have an unhappy camp. "Personally, I would have made him stick it out for six months and given him a hard time, but if the manger says he's unsettling the whole camp, you've got to support the manager."

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Slaven Bilic's two-year wait pays off as West Ham finally land Javier Hernandez
KEN DYER
Evening Standard

Javier Hernandez has promised to repay the faith shown in him by West Ham manager Slaven Bilic following his £16million move from Bayer Leverkusen. The 29-year-old former Manchester United star has signed a three-year deal and will join up with the rest of the squad in Germany this week. Bilic's perseverance has paid off but two years ago, when the player they call 'Chicharito' left Manchester United, bids of £9m and then £12m were not enough to complete a deal. This summer both co-chairman David Sullivan and Bilic have again worked hard to persuade Hernandez to join and the Mexico striker acknowledged their efforts. "Slaven Bilic was a massive influence on me signing," he said. "Since I joined Bayer Leverkusen he has wanted me, he spoke with me, he tried to do everything he could to bring me here but it was impossible for a lot of reasons. Now I am here though, I am going to be his player and I want to give him back that confidence and try to do my best to make him happy. I am grateful for all the support I have received in the last few days from the manager and from the directors of this club."
Hernandez has scored consistently throughout his career, netting 59 goals in just over four seasons at Manchester United, nine in 33 on loan at Real Madrid and 39 in 76 matches for Leverkusen. He is Mexico's top scorer with 48 goals. He is the fourth signing of the summer following the arrivals of Pablo Zabaleta, Joe Hart and Marko Arnautovic. Hernandez told the West Ham website: "I will be in best league in the world, I am going to have this challenge, which will push me as a player. You can see in this window they have spent very well with good players to achieve a lot this season. "I want to show my best. It's about goals to make all the fans, all my team-mates and all the staff very happy that I am here. My main goal is to make them happy and make them to not want me to leave this club."

Hernandez will return to Old Trafford with West Ham on the opening weekend of the new season. He said: "Of course I will be very happy to go back there and play, and try to win! Hopefully I can do as well in that stadium for West Ham as I did when I played for United."

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West Ham United FA Cup heroes to unite for Great Yarmouth meet and greet
http://www.greatyarmouthmercury.co.uk
PUBLISHED: 14:24 25 July 2017 | UPDATED: 14:24 25 July 2017 David Hannant

They have all scored FA Cup winning goals for West Ham United at Wembley Stadium. However, this October, Sir Trevor Brooking, Alan Taylor and Ronnie Boyce will gain another thing in common - an appearance in Great Yarmouth. The trio of former footballers will be appearing alongside fellow ex-Hammer Alvin Martin at an event at Britannia Pier Theatre, which will have the audience forever blowing bubbles. The group will reflect on their careers and times at Boleyn Ground, also known as Upton Park, where the Hammers played their home games before moving to the London Stadium. They will also be recalling the club's glory days, which saw them claim FA Cup victories in 1964, 1975 and 1980. A limited number of VIP meet and greet tickets to the evening - on Friday, October 27 - are also available. Tickets are priced between £25 and £40 and are available by calling 01493 842209.

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Sofiane Feghouli's West Ham future takes another twist during pre-season tour of Germany
West Ham transfer news includes an update on the future of Sofiane Feghouli, who has been linked with a move to Galatasaray this summer
Football London
BYSAM INKERSOLE
13:30, 25 JUL 2017UPDATED13:31, 25 JUL 2017

Doubts continue to surround the future of Sofiane Feghouli at West Ham as he has travelled to the Hammers training camp. The Algerian was a noted absentee among the morning session despite being with the team here in Bothel. However, football.london can reveal that Feghouli is suffering from an undisclosed injury which is the reason why he isn't training right now. It could also be a problem if the winger is set to be sold by the Hammers as it's unlikely he'd currently pass a medical at any new club. Galatasaray have made a bid for Feghouli which was rejected and French club Rennes have also expressed an interest in signing the former Valencia wideman. Feghouli is one of the highest earners at the club on an apparent £80,000 a week and after an inconsistent season last time out, West Ham are tempted to cash in.
In other injury news, Diafra Sakho has travelled to Germany but is training away from the main group, while Andy Carroll and Michail Antonio have remained in England to continue their rehabilitation.

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West Ham United aiming 'to win three trophies' after summer spending spree, co-chairman David Sullivan tells talkSPORT
David Sullivan: The West Ham co-owner (left) joined Jim White on talkSPORT
By talkSPORT - @talkSPORT
Tuesday, July 25, 2017

David Sullivan has challenged West Ham's new signings to win silverware and take the club to the next level - with the joint-chairman saying belief and luck is key to a successful season. The Hammers have had a busy seven days in the transfer window, signing Joe Hart, Marko Arnautovic and Javier Hernandez from Manchester City, Stoke and Bayer Leverkusen respectively. England goalkeeper Hart arrived on loan, while they spent around £40m for the latter two, breaking their transfer record in the process. The east Londoners will be hoping to improve on last season's 11th-placed finish in the Premier League, while they suffered early exits from the FA Cup and Europa League. "I think you need a bit of luck with injuries," Sullivan told Jim White on talkSPORT, before going on to offer his backing to Slaven Bilic. "At the moment, Mr [Diafra] Sakho is 100% good and that would make a huge difference to the season. "The manager is a good manager, he just needs a bit of luck. We need a bit of luck with results and refereeing decisions. "It is very tough to get into that top seven, and Everton have spent a fortune. The top four have really spent huge money. The Man United manager [Jose Mourinho] was building us up [recently] because he wants to say 'we are playing a tough team in our first game'! "After Leicester [won the league in 2015/16], it is possible. I realise the supporters say we won't do this and that, but we start the season in three [competitions] and the ambition is to win those three trophies. "I know it is very, very unlikely we will do that – and any one of them would please the board – but you have to think you can win anything and on our day we can beat anybody."
While Sullivan accepts the Premier League title is a long shot, the former Birmingham City chief would like to see his side go on a run in other competitions - with a little help from the luck of the draw. "Leicester was something we all thought could not happen, but they showed it can happen. I'd settle to win a cup…and I'd love to go to Wembley and win a cup. "Last year [in the EFL Cup] we beat Chelsea at home then got Man United away in the next round, I mean you are not going to win anything with draws like that. Then we get Man City in the third round of the FA Cup, Arsenal get non-league teams! "We have been very unlucky with the draws - we get away draws - Arsenal get more home draws than any other team I've seen. We are due an easy, easy cup draw."

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EXCLUSIVE - West Ham chief David Sullivan on Dimitri Payet: 'We knew we were signing a flawed individual'
Dimitri Payet returned to Marseille after falling out with the manager and squad at West Ham
By talkSPORT - @talkSPORT
Tuesday, July 25, 2017

West Ham's joint-chairman David Sullivan has told talkSPORT the club knew what they were getting when they signed troublemaker midfielder Dimitri Payet. Payet was undoubtedly one of the most talented players to pull on a Hammers shirt in recent years following his £10.5million arrival from Marseille in 2015. The playmaker quickly become a fan-favourite with nine goals and 12 assists in his debut season and went on to star for France at the Euro 2016 finals. But his relationship with West Ham soon turned sour, and the player forced a move back to France 18 months later after falling out with manager Slaven Bilic and a number of his team-mates. Speaking to talkSPORT host Jim White, Sullivan opened up about Payet's unceremonious exit and admitted the club was aware he came with baggage, although still hailed him as a 'fantastic servant' during his short stay.
"We knew Dimitri was flawed, and that's why we got him for £10.5million," said the Hammers chief. "It was a fantastic buy, but we knew we bought a flawed individual and someone who could well go on strike – he had done it all before. "That's why he never reached his full potential as a player and why big clubs have steered clear of him. "But, I've got to say he was a fantastic servant for the club. He gave us 18 wonderful months, particularly the first 12 months. "We didn't want to sell him but we got around two and half times what we paid for him and you've got to say it's good business. "It's not what we wanted but, as a club like West Ham, sometimes we have to sell. "We wouldn't have sold him unless we had to. We had meeting after meeting with him - he wanted out and the manager wanted him out. He didn't want to have an unhappy camp. "Personally, I would have made him stick it out for six months and given him a hard time, but if the manger says he's unsettling the whole camp, you've got to support the manager."

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Javier Hernandez suggests West Ham boss Slaven Bilic was major factor behind move
HITC
Jordan Harris

West Ham United have pulled off what appears to be arguably one of the best deals of the transfer window so far, signing Javier Hernandez. Javier Hernandez has suggested that Slaven Bilic's desire to bring him to West Ham played a key role in convincing him to make the switch to the London Stadium, Sky Sports reports.
Hernandez became the Hammers' latest signing of the window - joining the likes of Pablo Zabaleta, Joe Hart and Marko Arnautovic in making the switch this summer - with Sky Sports reporting that he has signed a three-year deal. And Hernandez has disclosed that the Irons boss' attempts to sign him over a sustained period of time helped persuade the 29-year-old to swap Bayer Leverkusen for another crack at the Premier League. "Slaven Bilic was a massive part of why I joined. Since I joined Bayer Leverkusen he wanted me, he spoke with me. He did everything he could to bring me here but couldn't for a lot of reasons and now I am here I want to repay him," he said, as reported by Sky Sports. With the Mexican's record throughout his career so impressive, it is arguably a fantastic statement of intent from West Ham to be the ones to bring him back to England two years after his move away from Manchester United. Landing a player of his quality and reputation must surely have an impact on how easy it will be to convince some of their other targets to make the same move during the remaining weeks of the window. And if Hernandez is capable of replicating the strike-rates he had at Manchester United and at Bayer Leverkusen once the season gets up and running, then perhaps that will also boost the club's ability to show further ambition in future windows.

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Javier Hernandez should offer West Ham plenty of goals... but the Mexican may struggle to replicate deadly form of his early Manchester United years
West Ham have completed the £16m signing of Hernandez from Leverkusen
Mexican striker's arrival at the London Stadium has generated excitement
Hernandez is best remembered for three goal-packed seasons at Man United
But he lost his scoring touch once Sir Alex Ferguson retired in 2013
His first season at Leverkusen was a success, but a slump quickly followed
By Adam Shergold for MailOnline
PUBLISHED: 05:55 EDT, 25 July 2017 | UPDATED: 05:55 EDT, 25 July 2017

After such a miserable recent track record with strikers, it's little wonder West Ham fans have greeted the arrival of Javier Hernandez with great excitement.
Astonishingly, 20 of the 32 forwards signed during the David Gold and David Sullivan era at the club have failed to score more than three goals in claret and blue.
But surely Hernandez - the 29-year-old Mexico international signed for £16million from Bayer Leverkusen this week - cannot fail like so many of his predecessors?
The perception of Hernandez - or 'Chicharito' ('little pea') as he is more commonly known - is of an old-fashioned goal poacher of a centre-forward. Unfailingly in the right place at the right time, dependable, a baby-faced assassin. He sounds precisely what West Ham manager Slaven Bilic needs to avoid another depressing brush with relegation as occurred last season before an eventual climb to an 11th-place finish. The image of Hernandez in the minds of most Premier League followers upon his return to these shores is of the deadly impact sub who made a big impression as a second or third-choice striker at Manchester United in the final years of Sir Alex Ferguson's tenure. Hernandez, then 22, quickly established favour at Old Trafford, scoring 20 goals in all competitions in the 2010-11 campaign and 12 the following year. But actually in his first two seasons, Hernandez started more Premier League and European matches in the team than on the bench, only reverting to that impact sub role when Robin van Persie arrived in 2012.
Yet strangely, though the Dutchman's signing knocked Hernandez down the pecking order, he responded with 18 goals in 36 matches - his best goals-per-minute return given the more limited opportunity. Nobody remembers Hernandez for scoring spectacular strikes from distance. He was more of an Ole Gunnar Solskjaer figure, snaffling up chances from in and around the six-yard box. But, more often than not, they were significant goals. Ones that earned United three points in a tricky away league fixture, or helped drag them through the sometimes torturous group stage of the Champions League. It is this Hernandez that West Ham supporters hope they are getting - someone at ease in the rough and tumble of the Premier League, snatching important goals. It surely stands to reason that if he receives greater game time, as he should with the Hammers, that goal return will only increase. But what is conveniently forgotten is that Hernandez lost his way at Old Trafford as soon as Ferguson retired.
David Moyes didn't see the value in him and his game time plunged during the ill-fated 2013-14 campaign, where he wasn't trusted either in the Premier League or the Champions League, just getting 15 minutes here and there. Louis van Gaal had a similar opinion, and Hernandez was loaned to Real Madrid in 2014. Again, he spent more time on the bench than on the field, scoring nine times in 33 appearances. His one decisive contribution was an 88th-minute winner to sink city rivals Atletico in the quarter-finals of the Champions League, but his reward was to be benched again for the semi with Juventus. It was only after his £7.3m transfer to Bayer Leverkusen in the summer of 2015, after Van Gaal confirmed he was surplus to requirements, that Hernandez rediscovered his scoring knack. Adjusting instantly to the rigours of the Bundesliga, and rewarded with a fixed starting place for the first time, Hernandez plundered 26 goals in 43 games across all competitions. But it wouldn't last. Despite plenty of minutes last season, he only managed 13 goals and endured a frustrating time also punctuated by injury.

HERNANDEZ RECORD PER SEASON IN LEAGUE MATCHES
Season Club Games played Minutes played Goals Assists Minutes/goal Total shots Shot conversion %
2010-11 Manchester United 27 1486 13 1 114 54 24.07
2011-12 Manchester United 28 1476 10 2 148 47 21.28
2012-13 Manchester United 22 948 10 3 95 44 22.73
2013-14 Manchester United 24 839 4 3 210 21 19.05
2014-15 Real Madrid 23 859 7 4 123 30 23.33
2015-16 Bayer Leverkusen 28 2173 17 2 128 64 26.56
2016-17 Bayer Leverkusen 26 1815 11 3 165 52 21.15
Source: Opta

So it is on this low note that Hernandez arrives at the London Stadium - last season was his worst return in terms of shot conversion and minutes-per-goal since the Moyes era at United. Although this won't affect West Ham next season, he has scored just once in his last 11 European outings. Four games in this summer's Confederations Cup for Mexico yielded just one goal. This recent slump in form has led some to wonder if, at the age of 29, Hernandez has already peaked. What else does he have to offer? The good news for West Ham is that he is tried and tested in the Premier League and will be eager to hit the ground running when he returns to Old Trafford on the opening weekend.

But the last few years have shown up inconsistencies in his scoring record despite increased playing time, and is he going to get the same amount of service as at United and Leverkusen? The only sides that enjoyed fewer touches in the opposition box last season than West Ham were West Brom and Burnley. Hernandez will likely have to adapt his game to this reduced service and may find himself tracking back more hunting down the ball. While most expect Hernandez to fall into the small category of West Ham striker success stories, it remains to be seen whether he can scale those heights of his early United years.

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West Ham co-chairman Sullivan talks Hernandez, Wilshere, Payet and two more signings
WEST HAM co-chairman David Sullivan has opened up on the club's promising summer transfer business.
By JACK STAPLEHURST
PUBLISHED: 10:37, Tue, Jul 25, 2017 | UPDATED: 11:20, Tue, Jul 25, 2017
Express.co.uk

The Hammers confirmed the arrival of their fourth new addition last night as ex-Manchester United striker Javier Hernandez was signed for £16million. Chicharito joins Joe Hart, Pablo Zabaleta and Marko Arnautovic at the London Stadium. And while Sullivan is delighted with how West Ham have managed to secure such experienced players after a poor window last year, he is not finished yet. "We're holding our mouths open and we can't believe what's going on," Sullivan told talkSPORT. "We've been working very long and very hard, eight days ago we had one deal in the bag. "We happened to pull three together in a week. But these deals take forever, and they are getting harder and harder with the demands of the player and the demands of the club. "We had a policy up to now to buy players for now, not tomorrow. "We made a decision with the manager to buy players proven in the Premier League, who've been here before and are of an age where they're not being bought for tomorrow but today. "Long term it's not a great strategy, but short term it is. "Hopefully we'll buy one or two more players, make investments in the future, while at the same time doing what's best for the club."
Hernandez specifically has been hailed as a top signing at £16m in an expensive transfer market. And Sullivan has seriously high hopes for the 29-year-old. The co-owner added: "He's potentially the best player that's ever come to the club. "He's the best proven goalscorer we've signed since being here. He's done it at Manchester United, and he's the most lovely, lovely person, and he's really looking forward to it. We were lucky to get him with one year left. We tried two years ago but he chose Germany [with Bayer Leverkusen]. "[We had to decide] do you sign him three weeks go for €20m or now for €16m? We still have £100m in debt but we're trying to get the best value for the club."
One of West Ham's other biggest signings in recent years was Dimitri Payet. His Hammers career ended unceremoniously in January as he forced through a return to Marseille. And Sullivan opened up further, admitting the club knew the France international had baggage before they signed him in 2015. "We knew Dimitri was flawed, thats why we got him for £10.5m, we knew we bought a flawed individual, Sullivan said. "We knew he could go on strike. It's why he never reached his full potential. "He was a fantastic servant for the club. We didn't want to sell him but we got two and a half times what we paid for him. "We had meeting after meeting, he wanted out, the manager wanted him out. i would have made him stick it out for six months but the manager said he was upsetting the club."

With this summer's business proving far more effective, more faces are possible. Arsenal ace Jack Wilshere has been linked with a move, and Sullivan did not rule out a potential deal. "I can't comment on players from other clubs but all I can say is midfield is not a position we're looking at - but never say never." Ahead of the new season, West Ham fans would be forgiven for being optimistic of potentially securing a return to European football. But for the Hammers to break back in to the top seven under Slaven Bilic, Sullivan admitted they need some luck. He said: "You need a bit of luck with injuries you need a bit of luck with injuries. Diafra Sakho is now 100% good. "The manager is a very good manager, but we need luck with injuries, results and refereeing decisions. "The likes of Man Utd, Man City have really spending big money. "But after Leicester, it's possible. Supporters are cautious but we start the season in the business to win three trophies. "On our day we can give anyone a tough time. The Spurs win last season showed that. "In the League Cup we beat Chelsea at home then had Man Utd away. We've been unlucky with the draw. We're due an easy cup draw."

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West Ham transfer news: Javier Hernandez taunted by Simon Jordan after making Hammers move
WEST HAM have been taunted by former Premier League chairman Simon Jordan after signing Javier Hernandez.
By JACK WILSON
PUBLISHED: 10:09, Tue, Jul 25, 2017 | UPDATED: 11:06, Tue, Jul 25, 2017
Express.co.uk

The news was revealed by the Hammers last night with co-chairman David Gold tweeting: "I am thrilled to announcing the signing of Mexico striker Javier Hernandez for a fee of £16m on a three-year deal. Welcome Chicharito. dg"
Former Hammer Dean Ashton responded: "That David is fantastic business. Proper penalty box predator!"
But the reply was mocked by Jordan, the ex-owner of Crystal Palace. He tweeted Ashton back and said: "So sought after that he ended up at #whufc ... hmmmm."
Hernandez, 29, has signed a three-year deal to become the Hammers' fourth new arrival of the summer. Hernandez has previous experience of playing in the English top-flight, having netted 59 goals for Manchester United during a five-year spell at Old Trafford. And Hernandez, also a former Real Madrid loanee, admitted the chance to return to England was too good to turn down. He told the club's official website: "I am very happy to join West Ham United. "For me, the Premier League is the best league in the world and when the opportunity came, I was desperate to sign for this club. "It was not a difficult decision. West Ham is an historic club, and very ambitious - this summer you can see with the players signed that they are looking to have a very good season. "I've had three fantastic years playing in Spain and Germany, but England was really the first big chapter in my career and I am so happy to be back. Known as 'Chicharito', Hernandez follows Pablo Zabaleta, Joe Hart and Marko Arnautovic to the Olympic Stadium during this transfer window. He will bolster a strike force that was depleted towards the end of last season, with injuries to Andy Carroll and Diafra Sakho leaving boss Slaven Bilic with just on-loan Jonathan Calleri to choose from in attack. Hammers joint-chairman David Sullivan said: "We are delighted to welcome Javier as the latest fantastic addition to the West Ham United squad. "Following the arrivals of Pablo Zabaleta, Joe Hart and Marko Arnautovic, he is another top-class professional who brings great experience and quality to the club. "He has a proven goalscoring record in the Premier League, LaLiga and the Bundesliga, as well in the UEFA Champions League and at international level with Mexico. "We now have some fantastic options in attacking positions and, like all West Ham fans, I am looking forward to seeing Javier score goals in a claret and blue shirt next season."

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http://vyperz.blogspot.com

Daily WHUFC News - 25th July 2017

Hammers regroup for German tour
WHUFC.com

West Ham United's first-team squad regrouped after a well-earned weekend off
before flying out to Germany on Monday morning. The Hammers will spend the
next ten days in the German State of Lower Saxony, where they will train
this week before contesting a Betway Cup double-header with local Bundesliga
side Werder Bremen at the weekend. Slaven Bilic's side will seek to continue
their unbeaten start to pre-season - the Hammers defeated Fulham and drew
with Sturm Graz II in Austria - when they face Die Werderaner in
Schneverdingen on Friday evening and Lohne on Saturday afternoon. A third
fixture is scheduled for Tuesday 1 August, when the Premier League side will
tackle Regionaliga Nord outfit Altona 93 at the Adolf-Jager-Kampfbahn
stadium in Germany's second-largest city.
Ticket details for all three matches can be found online here.
Alternatively, the games will be screened live on television in the UK by
Premier Sports.

West Ham will welcome two experienced internationals into the squad on
Monday, with new signing Marko Arnautovic linking up with the Hammers for
the first time after completing his Club-record move from Stoke City on
Saturday, while Jose Fonte returns after a post-FIFA Confederations Cup
break. Defender Winston Reid said the squad are looking forward to playing
their final four pre-season fixtures: "It's always an exciting time as the
season approaches, welcoming new guys to the squad and getting to know them.
"We've got Pablo, Joe and Marko in and, of course, we know them all very
well from playing against them in the Premier League. They are all top,
experienced players and they'll add a lot to the squad here. "We'll be
working hard on our fitness and sharpness in Germany with training and the
three matches, then it's the big one against Manchester City in Iceland,
where we all know football is really booming, so we can't wait for that
game."

Joe Hart and Marko ArnautovicAfter flying from London's Stansted Airport to
Bremen Airport Hans Koschnick, the Hammers will board the team bus for the
35-mile ride to the district of Rotenburg, where they will be based during
their stay in Germany. Bilic and his staff will put the players through
their paces at the local Sportanlage In der Ahe, the home of local regional
league club Rotenburger SV. There, they will take part in single and double
training sessions on the pitch, while also working on their strength and
conditioning in the gymnasium. As was the case during West Ham's recent
visit to the Austrian town of Bad Waltersdorf, the camp will also enable the
squad to spend valuable time together, with team bonding exercises planned
and the players and staff eating all meals together as a group. Following
their ten-day stay in Germany, the players and staff will board a flight to
Reykjavik on Thursday 3 August for the Super Match clash with Manchester
City – the first all-English Premier League fixture to be played in Iceland.
The Hammers' final pre-season match will take place at the Laugardsvollur
national stadium on Friday 4 August at 2pm GMT (3pm UK time).

Ticket details for a mouth-watering game that should see Joe Hart and Pablo
Zabaleta face their former team can be found here.

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Loan watch: Reece Oxford settling into life in Germany
WHUFC.com

Reece Oxford is wasting little time settling into life on loan with
Bundesliga side Borussia Monchengladbach, already featuring in four
pre-season friendlies for the German outfit. Oxford started as Die Fohlen
took on Nice and Nurnberg in the last week and he feels he is getting up to
speed with the demands of a new league.
Stlll only 18, Oxford has already played 14 games for the Hammers and has
set his sights on plenty more as he looks to further his development with a
campaign in Germany. He explained: "The Bundesliga is probably the closest
league to the Premier League, intensity-wise, and the teams are as good as
those in the Premier League. "It's good to go out to Germany, experience the
different teams and the different ways to play. "I want the team to do well
and challenge for a Champions League spot, because last year they missed
out. Hopefully we can do that and win a trophy too!"

Borussia have history of Premier League youngsters shining on loan with
them, with Chelsea's Andreas Christiansen featuring in 61 Bundesliga
fixtures over the last two seasons prior to returning to Stamford Bridge.
Oxford is sure his spell in Germany can be just as productive. "Andreas
Christiansen did well," he added. "He was here for two years. I played
against him once and he's a very good player. "Now he's back at Chelsea, so
hopefully I can follow in his footsteps and help the team to progress. "It's
just such a great team. That's why I'm here, to fight for a good position in
the table and win trophies."

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Ladies 2017/18 FA WPL Fixtures released
WHUFC.com

West Ham United Ladies will kick off their 2017/18 FA Women's Premier League
campaign with a trip to Gillingham LFC.

Following the release of the provisional fixture list at 5pm on Monday
evening, it was confirmed that the ladies will face the South-East club at K
Sports on the weekend of 20 August.

The encounter could see a debut for a number of West Ham's new Summer
signings.

Click here to see the full 2017/18 fixture list
http://full-time.thefa.com/ListPublicFixture.do?selectedFixtureGroupKey=1_38
1070148&selectedRelatedFixtureOption=2&selectedClub=&selectedTeam=&selectedF
ixtureDateStatus=&selectedFixtureStatus=&selectedDateCode=all&selectednavpag
e1=1&navPageNumber1=1&previousSelectedFixtureGroupKey=1_385574691&previousSe
lectedClub=&seasonID=591168894&selectedSeason=591168894


The 2017/18 season will conclude with a home fixture against Lewes FC on
Sunday 13 May, while other notable dates in the calendar include a home
derby with Charlton Athletic on 20 September and a trip to Portsmouth on 21
January to kick-start 2018.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Hernandez arrives in England
KUMB.com
Filed: Monday, 24th July 2017
By: Staff Writer

Javier Hernandez has arrived in England ahead of putting pen to paper on a
permanent contract with West Ham. The 30-year-old forward has agreed to
return to the Premier League following two years in Germany with Bayer
Leverkusen and arrived at Heathrow shortly after 2pm this afternoon
(Monday). Once safely settled in, the Mexican international will undergo a
medical and put pen to paper on a three-year contract, before flying to
Germany in order to meet up with the rest of Slavan Bilic's squad. Hernandez
will become Slaven Bilic's fourth signing of pre-season, following the
arrival of Pablo Zabaleta (free transfer), Joe Hart (season-long loan) and
Marko Arnautovic (£20million)

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West Ham - kingdom of the not quite
KUMB.com
Filed: Monday, 24th July 2017
By: HeadHammerShark


Full Of Life (Happy Now)

There was a Twitter thread this week where people were asked to post the
most recent text message in their phone. Mine was "Always the same cycle"
which could very easily have been my long suffering wife once more sending
me instructions on how to use our washing machine, but was in fact my
comment to a friend on our transfer policy.

This is not my wife, but finding weird stock photos is fun

The cycle I refer to is the long standing one of buying players as emergency
surgery and then constantly needing to rebuild on the fly when these
temporary sticking plasters come off. To continue mixing metaphors like
cocktails, the adage is that teams need to be moving forward just to tread
water in the fast moving Premier League. For West Ham it feels like we need
to flail away frantically just to stop from drowning.

It is not, however, the de-rigeur thing to be negative about West Ham
transfers at present. Such a thing would render you a "moaner" which is a
rather widespread British phenomenon these days. See a half arsed plan and
comment that maybe it could be improved with some actual, er, planning and
one is sure to be rendered a whinger. You need to be a bit more patriotic,
mate.


A Wish Away

But the thing is, I get it. It's summer and those abject home defeats seem
like a distant memory. Now we're in the golden uplit sunlands of the close
season where the players are all tanned, we're unbeaten and if you aren't
optimistic now then you never will be. The beauty of summer belief is that
it remains unscathed by the sharp blade of reality, which for now remains
safely sheathed on Romelu Lukaku's hip.

And the names arriving are recognisable so there isn't a need to query if
they will hit the ground running, or take any time to adjust. Pablo
Zabaleta, Marko Arnautovic, Javier Hernandez and Joe Hart - how can they be
bad signings? I've had them all in my Fantasy League team! In the short term
I accept that it would be churlish to say that these signings won't make us
better. Indeed, Jose Mourinho says we're trying to win the league, although
he also thinks Ashley Young is a wing back so you can't have too much faith
in his judgements.

And I agree with the general optimism for the short term. Zabaleta is
possibly the best Premier League full back of the last five years and is an
upgrade over Michail Antonio who started the season for us there last time
around, before moving to a striking role because that's the level of
planning we were running with last year.

Marko Arnautovic, meanwhile, is so far above any of our other wingers he
might as well be on Peter Crouch's shoulders and as far as creative players
from mid table teams go, he is about the best there is since the departure
of our very own Dimitri Payet. He's also got rid of his man bun which is
good because Loughton ain't big enough for two of them, says Andy Carroll.

Joe Hart is the incumbent England goalkeeper and therefore must be pretty
good because Michael Ricketts is proof that nobody crap ever plays for the
national team, and it's also World Cup year so he'll be motivated to keep
his place. What comes after that isn't relevant, apparently.

And the last, and possibly best of the lot, is Javier Hernandez. The former
Manchester United man is famed for scoring wherever he goes, and having run
the gamut from Mido to Zaza with detours to Petric and Chamakh on the way,
West Ham fans are not wasting any time in going mental over this signing. I
can't blame any of them and in fact, I am delighted. I think this is a great
signing, in isolation. After all, I still have a hole in my garden fence
courtesy of the Modibo Maiga era.

So, what's the problem?


Circlesquare

At least part of my issue is the seeming incoherence of the summer transfer
policy. Although the club have done a far better job of keeping a lid on
rumours this time around - someone presumably changed the WiFi password in
the Sullivan house - much of their activity has still been documented in one
way or another. First it was Kelechi Iheanacho, then Olivier Giroud and
Andre Gray before Hernandez finally fit the mould.

But, what shape of mould is he fitting exactly? How on earth do you pivot
from Giroud to Hernandez without fundamentally changing the way you are
planning to play? These strikers aren't particularly like each other, and
would all require a different type of service. I'm not saying that
professional footballers aren't adaptable but was this ever considered?
Given the huge difference in players, I am struggling to see how they were
ever identified in the first place.

If rumours are to be believed, we got 95 per cent of the way through the
process of signing Iheanacho before Bilic pulled the plug. How is this
possible, I wonder. Was he not consulted before the negotiations? If he was,
why did he change his mind? I would have been far happier if the deal had
been vetoed on the grounds that the club weren't prepared to agree to a buy
back clause for the player which in effect would have made it a loan signing
anyway. But no, we had apparently agreed to that and it was Bilic who got
cold feet.

Embed from Getty Images

Shape up dickhead, or I'll send you to West Ham


This brings us back to the thorny issue of who exactly makes the decisions
at West Ham. Tony Henry gave a pretty interesting interview to the official
website, wherein he laid out a nice sounding process for identifying and
recruiting players. He talks about needing "two or three players, maximum"
which always seemed a bit optimistic given the gaping holes in the squad and
David Sullivan's predilection for buying in bulk, but there is lots of good
sense in what he says.

Quite how that translates to the Iheanacho situation is another matter
entirely. That's the difference between theory and practice, I suppose. As a
former soldier said to me recently, "no plan ever survives contact with the
enemy".

But that seeming disconnect between planning and reality, or between the
manager and the recruitment team sums up neatly how I feel about West Ham
these days. We are the Kingdom of the Not-Quite, the Empire of the Nearly,
the Commonwealth of the Confused.

There is a plan if you dig deep enough, but it's never quite the right one.
The players are often nearly the right fit, but not quite, or they are
signed at just the wrong the stage of their career, and all playing in a
stadium that could have been brilliant but isn't quite. So close. Nearly.

We're like a Tim Burton film wrapped up as a football team. I sort of get
it, but Christ it's all a bit off kilter.


Don't Let Me Down, Gently

Take Joe Hart, a man who has yet to meet a tunnel he hasn't yelled at. David
Preece wrote a fascinating piece on Hart and his technical problems which I
would urge you to read. So much of the optimism about his signing is couched
in the terms of "If he can just get back his form from a few years ago",
which is a typical position for a supporter to take but also flies in the
face of reality.

Hart has been in decline for while and simply because he is 30 and at a
goalkeepers usual peak age doesn't actually mean that's the case for him. I
rather admire him for going to Torino and attempting to restart his career
in an environment where his "pashun" was somehow even less useful than it is
here. But the reality of his move is that he will be taking a spot where we
were already slightly above average. To the extent there is any upgrade at
all, it is minimal at best and when I asked Preece this very question his
response was "I don't think there is, to be honest. I quite like Adrian and
on the few occasions I have watched him, I have been impressed".

OK

That said, if the club feel he's an upgrade then so be it. But now we hit
upon another touchy topic. He is signed for only one year on loan, with no
follow on agreed price as far as I'm aware. This means if he plays well he
will make the England squad and re-establish his transfer value. That's good
for Joe Hart, good for England and good for Man City. It's good for West Ham
too, but only if you assume that Adrian couldn't have done the same thing.

With Darren Randolph having been sold now, Adrian is formally installed as
the understudy. If Hart leaves at the end of this season we then have a
pissed off Adrian with one year left on his contract and no experienced back
up. So, then we will have to sign a new keeper next summer to get back
to...where we were at the start of this one.

I know most fans don't care about this - be more patriotic, that's next
level whinging mate given it's two years away - but this seems like an issue
to me.

To exacerbate all this, David Sullivan upset Adrian with a typically stupid
comment upon signing Hart that he was "...the best keeper I have ever worked
with". That our Chairman thinks he has worked with a player at all
highlights a big slug of the problem at West Ham. Chairmen pay players,
Directors of Football sign them and coaches and managers work with them.
Given that Sullivan occupies the first two of those roles it's safe to say
he doesn't understand either of them, but rather wishes he was the latter.

So to recap; we've signed a keeper who might not be any better than the guy
we have already, who is himself now pissed off about a comment made by a
Chairman that nobody wanted to hear from in the first place, with no
guarantee that we get to keep the new guy beyond next May anyway. Triffic'
as 'Arry would say.

This is not so much a problem kicked down the road, as a problem created
from nothing and sent on the first plane to Austria for Slaven Bilic to deal
with. It's nearly a good deal, but there is too much wrong with it to be
right. Welcome to the Kingdom of the Not-Quite, Joe.

In case you've missed it - I see this as a vanity signing for Sullivan and
nothing else. It's the footballing equivalent of a hair transplant for
middle aged men. Which is pretty ironic for the Head and Shoulders guy.


It's Yer Money I'm After Baby

And what of Pablo Zabaleta? 32 year old Pablo Zabaleta. He played in a World
Cup final in 2014, Pablo Zabaleta. That guy.

Well, he's experienced, expensive and old, I will grant you. He's also a
pretty good player. Even at his age he is an upgrade on the inconsistent Sam
Byram and may even help the former Leeds youngster develop, although I heard
much the same thing about Arvelo Arbeloa last season.

As with all these signings, I have no real objection in isolation. Except
they aren't being signed in isolation because that's not how it works. So
Zabaleta may very well line up on that opening Sunday at Old Trafford
alongside James Collins and Jose Fonte and we might be fielding the slowest
defence since George's turn as a lawyer in Blackadder Goes Forth.

You take Lukaku, I'll take Rashford


So as the rest of the league gets younger, we get older. As everyone else
gets faster, we get slower. As the world gets smarter, we get dumber.

To an extent, I feel David Sullivan's pain. He can't address the new,
organic problems of last season, because he first has to fix the mess of the
previous term. The lack of a right back has been an issue for ages, and
he'll rightly say this is a solution. But, and there is always a but, it's
about as temporary as it gets.

During the 2018/19 season we will now be paying Zabaleta (34), Fonte (35),
Snodgrass (31), Noble (32), Carroll (30), Reid (31), Ogbonna (31) and now
apparently Hernandez (31) and Arnautovic (30). That's a lot of your team who
are suddenly too old to go on an Club 18-30 holiday, and one shouldn't
ignore that Cresswell, Kouyate and Antonio will turn 29 that season too.

I can't help but feel that every single one of these signings makes perfect
sense on their own and no sense at all when placed together. It's really
quite remarkable.

I know that Premier League income is such that nobody really cares about it
any more - teams are spending £50m on Kyle Walker and nobody even had to be
kidnapped - but that's still a huge chunk of the wage bill taken up by
players who are on the wrong end of the ageing curve. These are players who
will be in or approaching decline and they are contracted to us, meaning
their wages will have to be paid irrespective of their performance. If
you're wondering why Mourinho is so impressed with our transfer policy, it's
because it's the same as his own. Buy for the now, spend without regard for
the future, and let someone else sweep up the pieces in a season or two.

Additionally, if you wonder why we seem to get such poor fees for players
when we sell them, you have your answer right here. When you put people on
long, expensive contracts they aren't generally keen to move. As such we
will get less than £15m combined for Nordtveit, Feghouli and Valencia - all
experienced internationals, and the former two having played in the
Champions League - while Swansea turn down £45m for set piece specialist
Gylfi Sigurdsson. Not that any of those three can compare with him, but more
to say that we seem to sell into a different market than we buy from because
we are constantly desperate to clear players from the wage bill.

So there it is. Our squad will increase in age next season. You say they
will be more experienced and full of leaders - I say they will be slower,
more expensive and unable to cover a pitch that was too big for a younger
team last season.

And by the end of the next campaign, our team will be pushing an average age
of 30.

The current average age of a Premier League squad is 27.


Give, Give, Give Me More, More, More

Well what would you do? A familiar refrain whenever I get out my soapbox and
start off down this particular track.

I always find this a slightly odd question. If a Formula One driver crashes
into a wall I'm pretty sure I'd be allowed to say "Oooh, that was a mistake"
without someone promptly asking what I would have done differently. Well, I
wouldn't have done anything differently because I'm a bit crap at hill
starts, I'm terrible with directions and I wouldn't be allowed within a mile
of a Formula One car.

But that's the thing with questioning West Ham's transfer policy before the
season. It's all very no way, pal. You just love to have a moan. Stop
talking us down mate, they wouldn't have come this far without a master
plan.

Well, for what little it's worth, my plan would be to change completely the
profile of players we buy. Players should only come when they will still
have a resale value at the end of their contract, which means anyone turning
30 during their time with us would be out of the picture. The only market
for these players currently is to sell them to us.

This could be costly, of course, because young players and especially
English ones, are valued like diamonds. But there are plenty of examples of
young players being bought in the last few years for affordable fees and
immediately making their teams stronger. Dele Alli, N'Golo Kante, Cedric
Soares, Idrissa Gueye and Joel Matip would all have walked into our side and
all were affordable and obtainable at the time of their moves. Manuel
Lanzini and Pedro Obiang are proof perfect that we can do it ourselves. All
the more frustrating that we therefore seem to have forgotten that you don't
need to spend £25m on Premier League-ready youngsters if you have a
sufficiently wide scouting and analytics net.

The problems start when you restrict yourself to players represented by
certain agents, and only wish to buy players with Premier League experience.
These seem like two of the most foolhardy things a smaller club could do and
yet that is West Ham's policy. It's fucking batshit crazy, but it's actually
the policy.

And this is the result of scouting via agents. An ageing side, with a
constant and expensive churn of players, with each transaction being very
profitable for the men in the middle. If you allow yourself to be led in a
reactionary way by agents and a Chairman living out his dream of playing at
being Alex Ferguson, then you ending up buying Robert Snodgrass in January
for £10m and replacing him in July with Marko Arnautovic for £28m. All hail
the Commonwealth of the Confused.

So, yes, I'm going to feel the same frisson of excitement as you when we
first see Hernandez lining up with Arnautovic, Lanzini and Antonio just
behind him while Hart and Zabaleta organise our defence properly. I worry
about that soft looking central midfield but for now, for the shortest of
short terms, that looks a decent side.

But this is a footballing sandcastle, not designed to last for long and
susceptible to the ravages of nature, and when the injuries come in the
winter I suspect we will all wish this squad was a bit younger.


Hot Love Now!

When fans say we need to invest in older players "now" in order to attract
better younger types in future, I confess to being perplexed. There has
never been a better time to take a chance on a different type of player than
now. The top six are impenetrable and Everton are spending literally
hundreds of millions to finish seventh. We remain adrift in that mid table
pack with nowhere really to go. Relegation seems a stretch - although we
needed some luck to avoid it last year, our odds never got much above 5 per
cent - and as promising as these new arrivals might be even the most
one-eyed loon doesn't think we're making the Champions League.

So why not model ourselves on the only team who have broached the top four
permanently in recent times? Swallow your bile - we need to copy Spurs. Buy
young players only, all in the mid to low range of the market and hire a
coach to develop them as a team. It's no coincidence that Spurs are the
youngest team in the league, and regularly run the furthest during their
games. This is modern football. It requires youth, athleticism and tactical
fluidity. Yet we appear to building for 2011 when everyone else is focused
on 2017.

I will not mock Richie Benaud


Why are we are modelling ourselves on Manchester United and Chelsea in
buying expensive players at the height of their value with no mind to what
the cost will be to have them on the wage bill in a few years time?

The great Australian polymath Richie Benaud once said of cricket captaincy
that it was "90 per cent luck and 10 per cent skill, but for goodness sake
don't try it without the 10%". It doesn't seem unreasonable to suggest that
a cogent football transfer policy for a club like Chelsea is 90 per cent
money and 10 per cent scouting, and yet we seem to be trying to do it
without either the 90 per cent or the 10 per cent. It's nearly a good plan,
I suppose. But not quite.


Welcome To The Cheap Seats

But, I hear you say, this squad is young. What of Quina, Martinez, Oxford,
Burke and Cullen? Start being more positive, you moaner - the kids will save
us.

17 and our saviour
Yeah well, those kids play in an Academy that hasn't developed a first team
player in a decade, and as incomprehensible as it may seem that none of them
will make it, we also felt the same about Freddie Sears, Jordan Spence, Sam
Howes, Seb Lletget and Blair Turgott once upon a time. George Dobson was
highly thought of a season or two ago and he joined Sparta Rotterdam this
week. Nearly, but not quite.

Young players are great for dreaming on but it's a hard old game to break
into and we aren't very good at helping them do it. In fact, joining West
Ham seems to be so harmful for kids development that we're probably
nicknamed Thalidomide amongst parents up and down the land.

I thoroughly approve of the investment in younger players like this,
however, as it's cheap and a couple might pay off. But let's not kid
ourselves that these youngsters are breaking through anytime soon.

Thus we truck slowly toward Old Trafford and already Kouyate and Antonio
will miss the start of the season because someone is always injured. But
there is cause for optimism with the new signings in place and the horrors
of last year behind us. I understand the excitement among the fans, but I
can't help writing this article. I can't help saying that I think we're not
quite there. Nearly, but not quite.

And if you're wondering why it is that I'm concerning myself with what our
wage bill will look like in two years, or how exactly these new signings are
going to cope with the high press, or who is going to be in goal for us next
season or the average age of this years squad, well....it's because I'm not
sure anyone else at West Ham is.

I want to believe in this new dream, and maybe they will sign some
youngsters to shut me up before the window closes (although Keita Balde came
and went pretty quickly, didn't he?). But I can't help but look further down
the road and see trouble.

It's all decent, but it's temporary.

Nearly. Not quite.

Please note that the opinions expressed in this article are those of the
author and do not necessarily represent the views of, nor should be
attributed to, KUMB.com.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Javier Hernandez touches down at London Heathrow with West Ham ready to
complete £16m transfer
Bayer Leverkusen striker Javier Hernandez filmed walking through Heathrow
West Ham agreed a £16m deal with the Bundesliga club for Hernandez last week
The Mexican will undergo a medical and put pen-to-paper on personal terms
West Ham news: All the latest from the London Stadium
By Alex Martin For Mailonline
PUBLISHED: 10:03 EDT, 24 July 2017 | UPDATED: 10:21 EDT, 24 July 2017

Bayer Leverkusen striker Javier Hernandez has arrived at Heathrow Airport in
London as he looks to put the finishing touches on a £16million move to West
Ham.
The former Manchester United star was back on English soil on Monday morning
as he arrived to undergo a medical and put pen-to-paper on personal terms
with the East London club. Footage of Hernandez making his way through the
terminal with his entourage was released by Mexican broadcasters Univision
Deportes and provided tangible evidence that West Ham were close to
completing another transfer deal. Hernandez will be best known to English
football fans as the man who failed to fulfil his massive potential at Old
Trafford, but he will arrive at the London Stadium on the back of two
impressive seasons in the Bundesliga. The 29-year-old scored 26 goals across
all competitions in his debut campaign and followed it up with a respectable
12 in an injury-hit 2016-17. He will, however, have to prove he can cope
with the physicality of the Premier League all over again. He became
something of a cult hero among the Old Trafford faithful after building a
reputation as a super-sub under Sir Alex Ferguson, but was never able to
hold a firm place in the starting XI. In total, he scored 59 goals in 157
appearances for United. This time, he will have renowned hard man and
club-record signing Marko Arnautovic to help him deal with the bullies with
the Hammers completing a £24m deal for Stoke star late last week.
West Ham have backed Slaven Bilic in the transfer market this summer despite
a disappointing campaign at the former Olympic Stadium, in which relegation
appeared a genuine concern.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Use him or lose him? West Ham have easy decision to make regarding Domingos
Quina
HITC
Vincent Ralph

The West Ham United midfielder has been linked with a move but Slaven Bilic
must show more faith in him. According to a recent report from the Mirror,
West Ham United prospect Domingos Quina is a target for Paris Saint-Germain,
while earlier this month Sky Sports suggested that Arsenal were again
looking at the teenager after missing out on him when he first moved to the
Hammers. With a contract at the London Stadium until 2019, Quina is not
going to leave unless West Ham sanction a deal, at least in the short term,
but they need to either use him or risk losing him just exactly when he is
starting to fulfil his huge potential. Still only 17, the Portuguese
midfielder is widely regarded as one of the best players in West Ham's
academy and he made the match day squad on 13 occasions last season. That is
no mean feat for such a young player, yet Quina will be desperate to build
on his early outings in the Europa League qualifiers and, if his chances do
not come next season, any offers from the likes of PSG and Arsenal could
look increasingly enticing. West Ham have plenty of midfield options but
Quina does not need to become a first-team regular over night. He does
however deserve to start getting some minutes in the league and perhaps a
start or two in the cup competitions. If the teenager sees that he is
beginning to get opportunities at West Ham he is more likely to ignore the
advances of other clubs. However if he continues to be an unused substitute
at best, he may not be at the Hammers for much longer.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
West Ham transfer news: Hammers are in talks for Raul Jimenez - Tancredi
Palmeri
WEST HAM are in talks to sign Benfica forward Raul Jimenez, according to
transfer guru Tancredi Palmeri.
By JACK WILSON
PUBLISHED: 12:13, Mon, Jul 24, 2017 | UPDATED: 12:20, Mon, Jul 24, 2017
Express.co.uk

The Hammers will this week announce they have completed a deal for Javier
Hernandez - days after signing Marko Arnautovic. And it's now being claimed
that Hernandez' Mexico team-mate Jimenez, 26, may follow them to the London
Stadium in a potential club-record deal. Palmeri tweeted today: "West Ham
keep holding talks for Raul Jimenez." Jimenez became the most expensive
player in Portuguese football history - and the most expensive Mexican -
when Benfica bought the remaining 50 per cent of his rights last year. It
meant the player made a move for around £19.6million. But West Ham will have
to pay far more than that to lure him to England, if Portuguese reports are
to be believed. Portuguese newspaper Record claimed a £39m bid from Everton
was turned down earlier this summer. It is likely, therefore, that West Ham
would have to exceed that bid. The mooted sums are huge despite Jimenez
starting just six Premeira Liga games last season with another 13 apperances
coming as sub. He scored seven goals. Jimenez made his name playing for club
side America in the Mexican league.
He signed for Atletico Madrid in 2014 but flopped under Diego Simeone. There
he scored just one La Liga goal before moving to Benfica, and he's hardly
set the world alight there either. In fact, Jimenez has bagged just 17
league goals in the last three seasons.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
West Ham close in on their fourth signing as Javier Hernandez arrives in
London for his medical
KEN DYER
Evening Standard

West Ham are closing in on the signing of Javier Hernandez following the
Mexico striker's arrival in London for a medical. Hernandez has agreed
personal terms in principle while a fee of £16 million has been finalised
between West Ham and Bayer Leverkusen. Subject to the medical, the former
Manchester United star could become West Ham's fourth summer signing as
early as Tuesday, following Pablo Zabaleta, Joe Hart and Marko Arnautovic.
One of those new arrivals, Arnautovic, has said that it did not take long to
be convinced of joining the Hammers. "The manager gives me a good feeling
for the Club and for myself, that I can improve here. I didn't have to think
long to take this opportunity." Arnautovic told the club's official website.
"I spoke also to my family and everyone – everyone was happy that the
agreement was done with West Ham and now we can't wait to get started at
this club."

West Ham have also been linked with Senegal midfielder Badou N'Diaye but
free-spending Everton are also interested in signing the 26-year-old who
plays for Turkish club Osmanlispor.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Joe Hart is one of the best Premier League transfer deals so far, according
to ex-West Ham midfielder Lee Bowyer
By talkSPORT - @talkSPORT
Monday, July 24, 2017

Former West Ham midfielder Lee Bowyer believes the Joe Hart's arrival at the
London Stadium is one of the best deals in the league so far. The Manchester
City stopper joined the Hammers on loan for the season, after spending the
previous campaign playing in Italy for Torino. West Ham had problems in goal
last year, with both Adrian and Darren Randolph suffering from indifferent
form, and the England goalkeeper has been brought in to add presence and
organisational ability.
As a result Bowyer believes the addition of the two-time Premier League
goalkeeper is one of the best deals of the window so far. "Joe Hart is a
massive signing," the Charlton Athletic assistant manager told the Alan
Brazil Sports Breakfast. "I think he's probably one of the better signings
so far in the Premiership because to get a goalkeeper of his stature I think
that's what we lacked last season. "I think he's a great signing. "Obviously
Hernandez is your scorer, as your nine, but it just shows West Ham are going
to be playing football again next season."

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
West Ham open to Ashley Fletcher loan offers with four Championship clubs
interested - reports
The striker could be heading out on loan ahead of the new season
Football London
BYROB GUEST
10:57, 24 JUL 2017

West Ham could allow Ashley Fletcher to go out on a season-long loan ahead
of the upcoming season, according to reports. The Daily Star claim that
Slaven Bilic is prepared to let the 21-year-old depart the London Stadium
temporarily as the club prepare to announce the arrival of Javier Hernandez.
Fletcher, who has been linked with a move to newly-promoted Huddersfield
Town, is believed to be attracting attention from Championship sides Leeds
United, Middlesbrough, Reading and Wolves. Leeds wanted the striker to
return to Yorkshire on loan back in January, while Middlesbrough could be
encouraged to go for Fletcher following Darren Randolph's permanent move to
the club on Saturday. Although Fletcher registered a goal and assist in
Thursday's 2-1 friendly win over Fulham, a loan move looks possible with
game time likely to be limited once again next campaign. The former
Manchester United man scored once last season in 20 appearances for the club
in all competitions.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
A Stronger West Ham. But Are There More To Come?

Are things suddenly taking shape at West Ham and could there be more new
arrivals on the horizon?

What a difference a week makes as all of a sudden the mood has become far
more upbeat in the West Ham camp. The confirmed signing of Marko
Arnautovic, the anticipated arrival of Javier Hernandez , rumours of more
exciting recruits and a pre-season victory against Fulham has lifted spirits
to the point where talk of Europe is once again not purely limited to
Brexit. The increased optimism tempered only by a worrying injury to
Cheikhou Kouyate that threatens to keep him sidelined for the first month of
the season.

Assuming that the Hernandez deal goes through smoothly, and he is not
kidnapped at Heathrow by Daniel Levy, then many of us might have suspected
that the bulk of the summer business was now completed. After all the club
had been hinting at maybe two, three or, at a stretch four new signings as
the game changers required to contest the coming campaign. Despite this
speculation continues to throw up new West Ham bound names with several
players being regularly linked with a move to the London Stadium. Alleged
targets on the Hammer's radar include Keita Baldé Diao (Lazio), Raul Jimenez
(Benfica), Jota (Brentford) and Badou N'Diaye (Osmanlispor). It is
impossible to know whether any of the latest links have any substance but
with the new policy of 'keeping cards closer to their chests' there could be
a chance the Board may yet surprise us with a serving of ambition.

For me, strengthening central midfield and the centre of defence by the
injection of more pace remain priorities to produce a more competitive unit.
Further unless our new Head of Medical, Gary Lewin, has developed the most
miraculous of magic sponges for Andy Carroll and Diafra Sakho then a second
striker option is also needed. A twin Mexican strike-force of Hernandez and
Jimenez, though, would surely put an end to any thoughts of future
pre-season tours to the USA.

The other persistent rumour is that of Jack Wilshere who seems to be nearing
the end of his time at Arsenal. Potentially a fit Wilshere would be a great
addition but there are, of course, serious concerns over his injury record
and troublesome ankles. Possibly some form of pay as you play deal would
make sense.

Going into the new season with better balance in the squad then raises the
question as to how these new riches will be deployed on the pitch. My
inclination is that with Pablo Zabaleta at right back the default will be
for a back four rather than back three with wing backs. Maybe that
assumption will be proved wrong but if not then it would require the wide
midfield players (two from Michail Antonio, Andre Ayew and Arnautovic) to
accept greater defensive responsibility. A reluctance to track back is one
of the criticisms, along with consistency, levelled at Arnautovic during his
time at Stoke. Similarly, it is not an obvious feature of Ayew's game and
the problematic trade-off between attacking flair and defensive cover is a
key challenge for the coaching staff.

The major pre-occupation of the summer has been, understandably, the search
for the elusive striker but last season was also notable for leaking goals.
The recruitment of Joe Hart and Zabaleta are positive upgrades but it was
the way that we defended as a team that is the wider problem, not just the
back-line personnel. Principally greater pace and discipline are required
in the centre of midfield; where Mark Noble lacks the pace and Kouyate lacks
the discipline to effectively support Pedro Obiang. West Ham have been
particularly vulnerable against the better footballing sides attacking
through the middle as witnessed in assorted capitulations last term.
Central defence during Winston Reid's periodic absences also remains a cause
for concern.

With Antonio and Arnautovic likely to be providing the width, the
play-making responsibilities in the central areas would seem to fall
squarely on the shoulders of Manuel Lanzini with the only backup coming from
Edmilson Fernandes. Possibly this is a position where Jota from Brentford
could provide more competition.

The transfer widow has also seen a steady flow of departures with Darren
Randolph the latest to leave while Sofiane Feghouli and Robert Snodgrass
should also be aware of the writing on the wall marked 'Exit' by now. All
of this has generated a tidy inflow of funds which can hopefully be quickly
re-invested to further strengthen the squad.

In the wider Premier League world there is certain to be a lot more money
changing hands over the coming weeks. To see Manchester City paying over
£120 million for three full backs shows just how insane the transfer market
has become and how fanciful the dream to become an established top four club
is. At least we can now feel that we have a shout in the top of the
mid-table mini league – and who knows there could even be a chance of a
welcome extended cup run..

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Javier Hernandez ready to take his starting chance with West Ham
ESPN
23 Jul, 2017
Stephan Uersfeld

Javier "Chicharito" Hernandez is the all-time top scorer in Mexico's history
and third on the list of Mexican players to score in Europe (behind only
Hugo Sanchez and Carlos Vela). But as he prepares to join West Ham, his time
at Bayer Leverkusen has shown one thing: that he thrives when given a chance
to shine.

Hernandez never settled at Manchester United after spending five years at
the club having arrived from Guadalajara in 2010. And when Manchester United
coach Louis van Gaal and assistant Ryan Giggs exchanged a knowing glance
when the striker missed a second-half penalty in a 4-0 win against Club
Brugge in late August 2015, it was clear the Mexican's time at Old Trafford
was up.

Having only just returned to England after spending the previous season on
loan at Real Madrid (where he scored nine goals in 33 games), Manchester
United cut their losses and sold Hernandez to Leverkusen for around £7
million.

After 103 matches and 37 goals -- with a league-high of 14 coming from the
bench -- his 44 appearances as a substitute had earned him a reputation as a
"super-sub" but given him little chance to cement his place in the XI.

But in Germany, for the first time in his European career, Chicharito was no
longer second-choice and became one of the key players in Bayer's attack
during a largely successful season that saw them finished third behind the
league's two powerhouses Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund in 2015-16.

Mostly used as the left attacker in then-Leverkusen coach Roger Schmidt's
hard-running 4-2-2-2 system, Hernandez, after a short period of adaptation,
started to clock up the goals: a total of 26 in 40 matches in all
competitions that season. Contrary to his time at United, Hernandez started
38 of them and over his two seasons he played the third-most games of all
Leverkusen players.

Though the goals did not come so easy in a difficult second term at the
Bay-Arena, he still managed a total of 39 goals in 76 matches. And, in
total, he had 87 shots on goal, more than any other Bayer player in those
two seasons, and nearly 45 percent of those shots made it past the keeper.

But his time at Leverkusen can't simply be qualified by the number of goals
he scored. The striker also boosted Leverkusen's profile in the United
States and Mexico, where the Bundesliga club became a household name, and
his selfless runs opened up plenty of space for his teammates.

Hernandez perfectly fitted into Roger Schmidt's idea of long-ball football.
He held the ball up between the lines, waited for the wingers to catch up,
distributed, and moved into the penalty box to find a position where he was
most effective. His one weakness remains tracking back and helping out when
his side need to recover the ball, but it's clear that he thrives when given
more games.

Yet, in his second season at the Bay-Arena amid the collapse of Roger
Schmidt's system, it became evident that Chicharito has not overcome a
certain weakness. While he works incredibly hard when his side's in
possession of the ball, tracking back and helping out his teammates trying
to recover the ball was until this day does not remain his biggest
strengths.

The 29-year-old arrives back in the Premier League at the perfect time. He
still has some good years ahead of him, has the experience needed to success
in England and now has the confidence to showcase what he can as a starter.

West Ham came 11th in "goals scored" (47) in the Premier League last season,
15th in shots attempted (9.4 percent) and last in the ranking for shots on
target (26.9 percent), so they will certainly appreciate having a goal
scorer in their ranks.

Hernandez, for his part, will be seen to show Manchester United what they
missed when he lines up against his old side in the first match of the new
Premier League season on Aug. 13.

Information from ESPN Stats and Information was used in this report.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Leeds, Middlesbrough, Reading and Wolves want Ashley Fletcher: West Ham to
loan striker
WEST HAM ace Ashley Fletcher is attracting interest from four Championship
clubs.
Daily Star
By Alex Harris / Published 24th July 2017

The Hammers are preparing to send the 21-year-old forward out on loan for
the season as a result of Javier Hernandez's imminent arrival at the London
Stadium.
Leeds, Middlesbrough, Reading and Wolves are all vying for his signature,
according to The Sun. Wolves are light in attack after selling Jon Dadi
Bodvarsson to Reading, who also have limited options up front. New Leeds
boss Thomas Christiansen is on the hunt for competition to Chris Wood while
Middlesbrough have already signed one player - Darren Randolph - from the
Hammers this summer. Fletcher joined West Ham last summer after his
Manchester United contract expired. But he managed just 20 appearances in
his maiden campaign, scoring just one goal. Despite his struggles last term,
a Hammers source told The Sun: "Ashley is well thought of at West Ham. "He's
going out to get some games." West Ham expect to complete the £16m signing
of Mexico international Hernandez tomorrow. He will jet to London for his
medical and is set to become the highest-paid player in the club's history.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Marko Arnautovic's move disappointing, leaves Stoke short
22 Jul, 2017
James Whittaker
ESPN

Mark Hughes will start the season without one of his most prolific forwards,
having seen the Stoke hierarchy reluctantly agree to the club-record £20
million sale of want-away winger Marko Arnautovic to West Ham. It's a hammer
blow (no pun intended) to a manager who has found himself leaning heavily on
the maverick talent who cost him under £3m when he signed from Werder Bremen
in 2013. Sadly, in the end there was little he could do to change the mind
of a player who had firmly signalled his intention to leave with a transfer
request, having learned of the club rejecting an initial £15m bid from West
Ham for his services.

It is a move that has not gone down well among the Potteries faithful,
either, who are angry and disappointed at the way the player himself has
pushed for an exit. Just 12 months ago, when nearing the end of his contract
and having enjoyed his best season to date they were far more understanding
of him questioning his future.

He spent much of that summer waiting for potential suitors to make their
move but when push came to shove it was only Everton who showed serious
interest and while they were happy to meet his then release fee of £12.5m
they were unwilling to meet the player's own demands. The new season was
fast approaching and on learning how limited his options actually were a
contrite Arnautovic penned a new four-year deal with the Potters.

As recently as Nov. 2016 he was again asked about his future but was quick
to assure the fans of his loyalties by saying: "I'm always on the pitch with
the goal of giving my best and helping my team. I have only just extended my
contract so a transfer is not an issue for the time being. But the usual
rumours will probably still exist. "Of course, if Real or Barca would ask,
but the focus and concentration is 100 percent on Stoke City and my team
here."

It therefore comes as somewhat of a surprise that what can only be described
as a sideways move to West Ham was enough to tempt him away; especially when
he had already turned down what would have been a step-up at Everton just a
year earlier to sign a long-term extension at Stoke.

He initially arrived in the Potteries an unwanted wild-child but soon found
a father figure in the shape of Hughes who saw beyond his bad-boy persona.
It was a relationship that benefitted both parties; the player got the
opportunity of a regular starting berth as a leading light in a good
mid-sized Premier League club and the manager reaped the benefits that
stability and continuity seemingly encouraged.

It wasn't an easy ride, though, and much of his early time on the pitch was
accompanied by moans from those in the stands who questioned his work rate
and temperament. His reluctance to track back having lost possession and his
petulant outbursts were enough to split the fans on his worth to the side
but they were parts of his game he would go on to markedly improve.

More recently his influence has been such that without him the side would
have almost certainly dropped out of the league. The form of others and some
questionable management saw the once-unreliable Arnautovic assume a crucial
and talismanic role over the last two seasons with his impact in terms of
goals and assists something that quite simply needs to be found elsewhere.
The question for the manager is whether that need can be met by anyone
within the current group?

Many have pointed to the exciting Ramadan Sobhi as a tailor-made replacement
but for all his undoubted promise it is not unfair to suggest that he would
struggle to make the kind of impact needed to cover the deficit left by the
Austrian. All eyes then switch to an already-under-pressure Hughes to work
the kind of magic he did by signing Arnautovic in the first place but he
will have his work cut out, much as he has in trying to replace another of
the mainstays he has lost in the past -- Steven N'Zonzi.

There's many parallels to be made between the two but in the end the
difference is that N'Zonzi left to further his career; taking a pay cut in
the process. Unfortunately, it's difficult to conclude anything other than
the exact opposite for Arnautovic who, when he rolls into town with his new
side on Dec. 16, will be left in no doubt whatsoever of his former fans'
feelings on the subject.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Jack Wilshere: Antalyaspor confirm approach for Arsenal ace… but West Ham
are first choice
ARSENAL have received an enquiry from Antalyaspor over Jack Wilshere - but
he is prioritising a move to West Ham.
By JACK STAPLEHURST
PUBLISHED: 08:26, Mon, Jul 24, 2017 | UPDATED: 09:13, Mon, Jul 24, 2017
Daily Express

The Gunners are ready to offload the 25-year-old this summer and are open to
offers. West Ham, Swansea and Sampdoria have all been credited with interest
in the midfielder. Wilshere is currently recovering from a fractured leg
suffered in April at the end of his Bournemouth loan spell, and with less
than 12 months remaining on his Arsenal contract, a departure looks likely.
Reports have indicated Arsene Wenger values Wilshere at around £20million,
and the Gunners would prefer a sale over another loan. With the England
international available, Turkish side Antalyaspor have spoken with Arsenal
about a move. However, Wilshere's price-tag leaves them less optimistic of
being able to lure him across Europe. Antalyaspor president Ali Safak Ozturk
said: "We made an enquiry and are in talks but Arsenal want a lot for
Wilshere. "It will be a difficult move to pull off."
Sampdoria have already seen a £7.5m bid rejected by Arsenal this summer as
they hold out for a bigger fee. A switch across London to boyhood club West
Ham would be Wilshere's first choice, though. According to Football London,
joining Slaven Bilic's side is Wilshere's preferred option. However, the
Hammers will look to pursue a loan deal due to the player's injury record.
And it remains to be seen if West Ham will formalise their interest with a
bid, although Bilic is said to be an admirer.

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