A journalist close to West Ham co-owner David Sullivan has raised concerns about the potential signing of Carlos Soler from PSG.
If West Ham are going to do any further business in this window then PSG midfielder Carlos Soler will be first in line to be signing number nine.
The Hammers have fully backed new boss Julen Lopetegui and handed the keys to technical director Tim Steidten.
Together Steidten and Loptegui have brought in eight signings this summer.
The next focus is reportedly on Spain midfielder Soler with Lopetegui having spoken to the ex Valencia man about a move to the London Stadium.
Hammers News exclusively revealed last week that West Ham could make as many as three more signings before the close of the window.
But, as revealed in our report, that will depend entirely on whether two or three players can be shipped out first.
Not just to offset this summer’s sizeable spend but to clear space on the wage bill and in Lopetegui’s much-improved West Ham squad.
The Irons have signed a bit of everything this summer and pulled off some sensible and sensational deals.
West Ham’s window of wonder and wisdom
Brazilian teen Luis Guilherme was first in at £20m. The 18-year-old is seen as a player who can dip his toe in the Premier League this season in preparation to be a potential Hammers star for years to come.
Wes Foderingham was a sensible free transfer who fills the third goalkeeper slot and ticks the homegrown box – an important factor for West Ham this summer.
Max Kilman ticks that box too and was the club’s first major arrival. Amid some scepticism, Kilman looked worth every penny of the £40m West Ham paid Wolves for him in the Villa game and will help Lopetegui transform how the Hammers build from the back.
Crysencio Summerville was an exciting capture from Leeds. The Championship player of the year cost £26m – a relative bargain in the modern game. He is just 22 and is ready to go from the off as he seeks to make the Holland squad in the future.
Experienced Germany striker Niclas Fullkrug then arrived for £23.5m followed by another sensible free agent signing – midfielder Guido Rodriguez.
Jean-Clair Todibo is arguably the capture of the summer as West Ham fought off Juventus and others to land the French defender.
Aaron Wan-Bissaka – regarded one of the best defensive right-backs around – made it eight arrivals for Steidten and Lopetegui.
A deal is now reportedly in place to make PSG outcast Soler – who was a regular in the Spain squad under Lopetegui – their ninth. If players can be moved on.
But The Guardian’s Jacob Steinberg has highlighted a potential issue regarding that deal for the Hammers.
Journalist raises West Ham’s Soler concerns but it’s a red herring
The journalist has raised West Ham’s Soler concerns but it’s a total red herring.
Steinberg is a confidant of Hammers majority owner David Sullivan.
And he has been reporting what he has heard on the Soler deal.
Steinberg has repeated what Hammers News and others have reported for some time now.
That players need to be moved out before a deal for Soler can be completed. And that it may have to be a loan with an obligation to get it done initially.
However, Steinberg has claimed there is a potential problem in that ‘West Ham know Soler is on high wages at PSG’.
“A workaround for West Ham could be to sign the 27-year-old on an initial loan, with either an obligation or option to buy inserted in the deal,” Steinberg writes in The Guardian.
“They are aware that Soler is on high wages at PSG.”
That is a complete red herring, though.
Wages definitely not an issue in Soler deal
According to Salary Sport – and a number of other sports salary websites – Soler is on £71,000 per week at PSG.
That’s just over £3.6m per year. Not bad money if you can get it of course.
But by no means a deal breaker in any way, shape or form.
Especially if West Ham are successful in offloading £125k per week Zouma – as they will need to be in order to press ahead with the transfer anyway.
For context that would mean Soler is earning only £6k more per week than Maxwel Cornet – another player the Hammers are trying to ship out.
Those wages – which are likely to be negotiated down and not up if Soler was signed on a permanent deal – would make Soler West Ham’s 13th highest paid player.
And the Spaniard would be getting less than half the £150k per week Lucas Paqueta is on.
That is not to make light of that kind of money.
Merely to put into perspective that wages will not be a stumbling block in this particular deal as Steinberg has suggested they could be.
Because the move will only get the green light if a player or two depart – which will free up plenty of money on the wage bill as a result.
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