It feels like déjà vu at West Ham as phantom bids and faux ambition appear to be back again, this time sparked by a staggering new striker claim repeated a board confidant.
Just when Hammers fans thought the days of smoke-and-mirrors transfer talk were perhaps behind them, the club appears to be slipping back into old habits.
Poor recruitment and a lack of proper structure to get it right has formed a major pillar of criticism from fans protesting against West Ham’s owners this season.
The Hammers have flitted from having a director of football to the club’s majority owner David Sullivan leading transfers, to agent-led models, scattergun approaches, hiring heads of recruitment and back again.
That is all just in the last five or six years too.
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West Ham slipping back into bad transfer habits?
Not all of West Ham’s transfer business in that time has been a disaster. But it is fair to say the club gets it wrong more often than it gets it right when it comes to signings.
That is one of the big reasons the Hammers find themselves in a relegation battle just a year after spending an unprecedented £155m on players.
West Ham’s owners appear to finally be sitting up and doing something about the clear issues when it comes to recruitment.
The Hammers recently announced groundbreaking plans to overhaul transfers in the wake of continued protests from supporters.
West Ham fans were seriously enthused by the announcement.
But it looks like phantom bids and faux ambition could be back at West Ham after a staggering striker claim.
When Nuno Espirito Santo was appointed as Graham Potter’s replacement at West Ham, he insisted on his super-agent Jorge Mendes being involved in West Ham’s transfer dealings.
Fans don’t have to wait too much longer to find out whether Mendes will indeed be used to West Ham’s advantage in the January transfer window.
Supporters will always be wary of Sullivan’s influence on deals as he remains the club’s de facto director of football since the departures of Tim Steidten and head of recruitment Kyle Macaulay.
Back in 2022, pundit Simon Jordan accused Sullivan of ‘phantom bids and faux ambition’ after West Ham’s double move for Kalvin Phillips and Raphinha at Leeds.
Phantom bids and faux ambition back at West Ham?
The former Crystal Palace owner told talkSPORT at the time: “It looks good on paper. We can all bid for players and make sure the media are aware of our ambitions without actually being able to conclude them.”
Now, despite West Ham’s big announcement about overhauling the approach to transfers, a revelation has emerged about the club’s interest in a top striker ahead of the January window.
The claim, repeated by a source with ties to Sullivan himself, may reignite frustration among supporters who are tired of big promises, thin execution and the same old transfer circus playing out every window.
West Ham reportedly sent scouts to Portugal last week to watch Porto’s win over Nice.
According to reports repeated by board confidant’s Claret and Hugh, Porto and Spain striker Samu Omorodion – aka Samu or Samu Aghehowa – was the main focus of West Ham’s attention during the game.
Hammers News first reported claims from Spain in April last year that West Ham had an interest in Omorodion when he was still at Atletico Madrid.
The Hammers ultimately missed out on Omorodion to Porto, where he has since scored 37 goals in 62 games – including 10 in 17 this season.
His form for Porto and performances for Spain – both at the Olympics and now in the senior side – have reportedly attracted the attention of some of Europe’s biggest clubs.
In the summer Claret and Hugh again claimed West Ham wanted Omorodion despite the club making it clear they had to sell to buy.
The 6ft 5in 21-year-old powerhouse is exactly the profile of striker West Ham have needed for years.
Staggering West Ham striker transfer claim made
But in the end West Ham all too inevitably signed ageing, injury-prone free agent striker Callum Wilson instead.
It should not have come as too much of a surprise given elite clubs were being quoted huge figures of over £70m for Omorodion.
Now it is being claimed by the likes of A Bola and Sport Witness that the Hammers have watched Omorodion with a view to potentially trying to sign him this January.
The striker is reportedly valued at over £85m.
So any West Ham fan worth their salt knows this is a complete non-starter unless there is a deal to be done at a much lower price.
Even if Omorodion, who scored in a 3-0 win over Nice while West Ham were supposedly watching, was a lot cheaper, persuading him to join a relegation battle would surely be a near-impossible task.
So is this West Ham being used to drum up interest in the player or is it the return of phantom bids and faux ambition in east London?
Hammers fans – and Nuno himself – will find out next month.
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