Nordtveit departs
Our Norwegian former midfielder Havard Nordtveit has moved to Hoffenhiem for a fee that is believed to be in the region of £8 million. The 26-year-old endured a tough start to life in The Premier League as injuries found him thrown in at the deep end of the Hammers midfield straight away. From there on in Nordtveit lost his starting place after several diabolical performances which coincided with the extremely poor start to the season that plagued Slaven Bilic’s side. As the former Arsenal youngsters first season in The Premier League progressed he was limited to a handful of substitute appearances, and fans began to turn on Nordtveit as he gave away a vital penalty against Spurs at White Hart Lane. Although, the former Nuremberg man managed to impress as the 2016/2017 campaign drew to a close, a summer exit was inevitable. A return to Germany was reportedly always the Norwegian’s first choice, and the move symbolises the end of another very poor and short spell in English Football for the Norway international.
Hammers release new home kit
Our much anticipated new Umbro home kit for the 2017/2018 Premier League season was revealed yesterday, to the delight of Football-starved Hammers fans up and down the land. The new design was modelled by Mark Noble, Manuel Lanzini and Andy Carroll in the foyer of The London Stadium, with the shirt itself featuring a Claret arrow head pointing downwards at the top. The shirt is also modelled on the original Thames Ironworks design and mimics the Admiral kit of the 1970’s. Many fans are delighted with the traditional nature of the strip, as next seasons away kit is an unconventional shade of black, which doesn’t reminisce any of the West Ham away kits of the past. However, Hammers fans will be forced to wait until September to see the new kit I action, as due to The World Athletics Championship, we don’t play a home Premier League fixture until we face Huddersfield on Saturday 9th September.
Antonio becomes Ladies ambassador
Our 2016/2017 top goal scorer Michail Antonio has become the first of many new ambassadors for West Ham United Ladies along with vice-chairman Karren Brady. The announcement comes as part of the new re-shuffle of the ladies’ side infrastructure, with Jack Sullivan as Managing Director. Along with the goal to reach The WSL within the next five years. Antonio and Brady will now offer guidance and public support to aid the team in reaching their goals on and off the field.
Southampton game reversed
Our first home game of the 2017/2018 Premier League campaign against The Saints has now been switched to an away fixture due to The London Stadium hosting the 2017 World Athletics Championship. The fixture change means that we will not play a home League game in the month of August and will have to wait until the visit of Play-Off champions Huddersfield to play at The London Stadium next season. The reversal also means that we will now face The South Coast club at home on Saturday 31 March 2018.
Transfer gossip: One in, one out?
It has been rumoured in the last few days by BBC Sport that our young defender Reece Oxford has almost completed his loan move to German giants Borussia Monchengladbach. The 19-year-old was pictured completing his medical with Dieter Hecking’s side and will hope that this new challenge will bring him more first team opportunities. Oxford has been left frustrated at his lack of game time since making his Premier League debut at the age of 16 against Arsenal in summer 2015 and an uneventful loan spell at Reading hardly helped the youngster. The homegrown talent will now be hoping that this move is just another step on the journey to fulfilling his ambitious billing of “Future captain of West Ham United”.
It has also been reported this week by The Express that we have re-opened talks with Liverpool to sign striker Daniel Sturridge. Slaven Bilic is reportedly very keen on The England man and is eager to get the deal done before the start of the new Premier League season. However, as more clubs are becoming interested in the former Chelsea man, Jurgen Klopp’s asking price is rising. So, could Sturridge be the answer to our troubles in front of goal next season?