West Ham are being linked with serious interest in a trio of top young striker targets just months after bidding £57.5m for Jhon Duran.
- Hammers News exclusive
Graham Potter is planning a major overhaul of West Ham’s squad this summer.
As things stand the Hammers boss has at least 11 players he wants to offload with as many as eight signings targeted.
There will be big changes up front and in midfield.
But West Ham’s board has insisted for some time now that money is seriously tight.
Just this week West Ham’s owners set the record straight on the finances.
The Hammers’ hierarchy insist they have now reached their limit when it comes to PSR, which restricts outgoings relative to income.
Confusion as West Ham plead poverty amid exciting links
And it is not just bound by transfers but all spending including wages vs turnover, which also must be within the PSR ratio.
Newcastle and Aston Villa have both been forced to sell players to comply with PSR. That’s despite having among the richest owners in world football. In Newcastle’s case the richest owners of any sports team, anywhere on the planet.
West Ham’s board are adamant players must be sold before signings can be made for Potter’s rebuild.
So fans have been left bemused by reports of plans to bid for top young forwards leaking from sites with sources inside the club.
Now West Ham have responded on those exciting striker links, spending and have made a shock Jhon Duran admission.
Hammers fans were gutted when their long-running interest in ex Aston Villa striker Duran amounted to nothing.
Duran looked almost certain to sign for West Ham after doing the crossed Hammers gesture on a live social media video last summer, while he was away with the Colombian national team.
In the end technical director Tim Steidten decided to use his £45m striker budget on two signings – Niclas Fullkrug and Luis Guilherme – instead of spending it all on Duran.
The fiery young striker went on to have a brilliant first half of the season with Villa – including scoring the winner against West Ham on the opening day of the season.
When January rolled around, the Hammers tried again.
The club confirmed a staggering £57.5m bid for Duran was genuine in the winter window.
But it was rejected by Villa, who then sold him to Al-Nassr for around £65m.
West Ham ‘at PSR limit’ yet have made record bids
Cynics accused the board of ‘phantom bids and faux ambition’.
And it is perfectly reasonable that West Ham fans are baffled that the owners have been pleading poverty when such a mammoth – club record – bid was made for Duran just three months ago.
To add to the confusion West Ham are being heavily linked with a £30m move for Ipswich striker Liam Delap, an expensive free transfer move for Jonathan David and with another club record bid for Porto’s Samu Omorodion.
The latter was a Hammers target last summer but ended up moving from Spain to Portugal, where he has been a big hit.
Claret and Hugh claim West Ham have told Porto they are willing to break their £51m transfer record to sign Omorodion. But Porto want closer to £70m.
Hammers fans have legitimately been asking how this all adds up when the top spokesman for the club’s owners has continually insisted they have reached the PSR limit.
So Hammers News has put that very question to the key senior spokesman for the board.
The response doubles down on the financial situation outlined previously.
And there was even a stunning admission about Duran too.
It was put to the spokesman for West Ham’s owners that fans are excited by links to the likes of David, Delap and Omorodion.
Especially after the big money offer for Duran in January.
West Ham are not ruling out a big money striker move but have made it clear – yet again – that players simply must be sold first.
West Ham on strikers, spending and a shock Duran admission
“The money is not there for a top striker move until we sell or we will be in breach of FFP rules,” the spokesman for West Ham’s owners exclusively told Hammers News.
When pressed on the fact fans are confused by the mixed messages as a result of the January bid for Duran, the Hammers confessed they would have been forced to sell had they pulled that off.
Because they didn’t anticipate just how tight the finances would become.
“In reality we didn’t realise how bad things were in January and had we got him (Duran) we’d have been forced to sell,” the West Ham spokesman added.
“In addition on the subject of Duran, we expected to finish a lot higher up the table – it is £2.6m per place – and have more TV games – that’s £900k per match.
“We are going to have to be clever with our dealings this summer.”
While all fans love seeing the club go out and spend big money, this might not be the worst thing in the world for West Ham.
Big transfer splurges rarely work out – and not only at West Ham.
This will force the club to be more diligent in their approach to recruitment and sales.
It is long overdue and could actually force the Hammers out of their bad habits when it comes to transfers.
The window opens on June 1st this summer – so we don’t have to wait too long to find out.
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