The opening weekend of the Premier League season was not a great one for big-money signings making their debuts for their new London-based employers, West Ham United’s dynamo-turned-defector Mohammed Kudus aside.
As Mads Hermansen’s ‘mistake’ summed up that Sunderland capitulation on Wearside, Mohammed Kudus became an instant Tottenham Hotspur favourite with two assists for a pair of rasping Richarlison strikes against Burnley.
Elsewhere, Caoimhin Kelleher was beaten three times as Brentford collapsed at Nottingham Forest. Estevao missed arguably Chelsea’s best chance during that stalemate with Crystal Palace.
And as all eyes turned to Old Trafford, expecting a debut to remember for new £64 million centre-forward Viktor Gyokeres, Mikel Arteta found himself indebted to yet another scrappy set-piece as his marquee addition stumbled over the ball and ballooned crosses out for throw-ins.
A debut to forget, undoubtedly.
Yet, former West Ham United boss Alan Pardew still cannot understand why it took this long for Gyokeres to get his chance on the Premier League stage.
Alan Pardew wanted West Ham United to sign Arsenal striker Viktor Gyokeres
It is no secret that Viktor Gyokeres was on West Ham’s radar before leaving Coventry City for Sporting Lisbon back in 2023, the fee at the time an affordable £17 million.
According to The Sun, David Moyes even made the trip to West Midlands to watch the Sweden international in the flesh.
Would Gyokeres have been the man to end West Ham’s so-called striker ‘curse’? Would a forward who scored a staggering 97 goals in 102 Sporting appearances have exploded with quite the same impact in claret and blue?
Either way, Pardew feels that West Ham would be making a mistake if they continue to view the Championship market through a rather suspicious lens, highlighting the signing of Jarrod Bowen from Hull City as the sort of deal his former employers should revisit.
“The transfer policy really has been underwhelming. That is the only word I can use without being harsh,” says Pardew, who led West Ham to an FA Cup final and a top-half Premier League finish two decades ago.
“Bowen has been the best signing without a shadow of a doubt. He’s been terrific.
“I don’t know why West Ham’s transfer policy kind of ignores the Championship. There’s so many great players, Gyokeres being one of them who was at Coventry only two years ago!”
While captain Bowen is desperate to lift the FA Cup at West Ham, Crystal Palace claimed English football’s oldest prize last season thanks to a winner from ex-QPR starlet Ebere Eze.
James Maddison, Archie Gray, Ollie Watkins, Matty Cash and Adam Wharton are just some of the others who made the step up fairly effortlessly.
“Look at the Leeds and Burnley squads that have come up,” Pardew adds, the former picking up a 1-0 win over Everton on Monday night. “You can’t tell me there’s not players in the Championship who can easily convert to the Premier League.
“And yet that market seems very undervalued. There’s always a foreign player [clubs would rather sign].”
Sullivan stance may have softened as West Ham target Southampton’s Mateus Fernandes
Hammers News have been informed, by football correspondent Graeme Bailey, that owner David Sullivan has reservations about Championship signings.
Flynn Downes struggled to make an impression after joining from Swansea City, certainly, while the injury-hit Crysencio Summerville has scored only once in 22 games since a £30 million transfer from Leeds United.
Yet, for every Downes, there is a Wharton.
Furthermore, with a return expected for early-September, Graham Potter should have Summerville back and desperate to make up for lost time sooner rather than later.
Interestingly, the club’s ongoing pursuit of Mateus Fernandes suggests that Sullivan’s stance may have softened a little, even if the Portuguese playmaker only really emerged as a leading target late in the window.
Southampton rejected West Ham’s £30 million opening bid last week, while Saints CEO Phil Parsons is determined to keep Fernandes for another promotion charge.
With alternatives lined up in case the Southampton do not reduce their £50 million asking price, Pardew is still hoping for Harvey Elliott to make the journey to East London from Liverpool.
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