For the second time in one summer, a player reportedly on the radar of West Ham United appears destined to end up at Premier League newcomers Sunderland instead.
And while some at the London Stadium may unfairly accuse the Hammers of lacking even a shred of the ambition shown by last season’s play-off champions – West Ham need further sales to finance deals for the likes of Harvey Elliott, after all – the fact is that Sunderland’s eye-catching spending means the relegation battle is unlikely to be such a foregone conclusion next time around.
Despite a dreadful first three-quarters of the 2024/25 campaign, West Ham United never really felt in danger of the drop.
Not with Leicester City, Southampton and Ipswich Town mustering fewer points between them [59] than eight-place Brighton secured on their own.
Burnley and Leeds may struggle to snap a recent trend of newly-promoted teams going straight back down, of course. But unless Graham Potter can spark a turnaround at West Ham, an impressive start to life back in the big time by Sunderland will set the nerves jangling.
A Sunderland side who now look set to follow up the additions of Habib Diarra, Granit Xhaka, Simon Adingra and co with Robin Roefs; The NEC Nijmegen goalkeeper who was linked with West Ham as recently as the start of the week.
Sunderland agree to sign West Ham United-linked goalkeeper Robin Roefs
Dutch publication Algemeen Dagblad reported on Tuesday that West Ham were showing interest in Robin Roefs. ‘Serious’ interest, at that.
Whether there was any truth to those claims remains a mystery for now.
That Sunderland were not even mentioned in passing in AD’s report, yet now look set to complete the signing of the Netherlands Under-21 international, may cast some doubt on the legitimacy of those Hammers claims.
Just 24 hours after Roefs was linked with a move to the London Stadium, The Athletic’s David Ornstein broke the news that Sunderland had agreed a £9 million with NEC Nijmegen.
The 22-year-old allegedly underwent medical tests on Wednesday. Roefs, who was in goal for the Netherlands when the aforementioned Elliott fired England into the final of this summer’s U21 European Championship, is expected to sign a five-year deal on Wearside.
So, while Hammers News were informed that West Ham would intensify their goalkeeper chase this week, it appears that Sunderland are destined to land a new shot-stopper while the wait drags on in the capital.
In the meantime, it can be confirmed that West Ham considered Habib Diarra before the Black Cats secured a club-record deal for the former Strasbourg midfielder a month ago.
Mads Hermansen the top choice as Zion Suzuki is absent for Parma
Parma star Zion Suzuki missed training on Wednesday. But, as the Serie A outfit hold out for £30 million-plus, this feels like a losing battle.
Hammers News have been told that Leicester’s Mads Hermansen is the top target. A former Denmark Under-21 international, he worked with West Ham’s new goalkeeping coach Casper Ankergren back home at Brondby.
Hermansen has not featured for Leicester in pre-season. Marti Cifuentes, the man who replaces Ruud van Nistelrooy in the King Power dugout, insists that his absence can be explained away thanks to the groin surgery he underwent late last season.
“[Hermansen’s recovery] is going well. He has started to train with the group,” Cifuentes says. “During this camp [in Austria], he has been taking a step forward in terms of what he was doing before that. He is feeling good. He is starting to kick longer, he is starting to push really hard.
“We hope he can be ready soon.”
While Alphonse Areola made another crucial mistake in possession during the 2-1 defeat by Manchester United on Saturday, Wes Foderingham did not cover himself in glory either against Everton in Chicago.
There is an argument, then, that West Ham may need two new goalkeepers before the September deadline.
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