The Outgoings
As of this time, we will receive about £46,000,000 from selling players that either don’t fit our plan or are looking for different opportunities. What is also VERY important is the salary situation. Losing Andy Carroll and Chicharito will free up plenty of weekly wages. Andy is on £4.16M a year and Chicharito is on £7.28M a year (NB: these figures come from a bit of research on the Internet and may be off somewhat, but use them as guidance).
Freeing up those wages allow us to do two things; we can improve the wage situation for some of our young core (thinking of Declan Rice on that one) and go spend money on free signings to fill holes for a year while we develop more internal talent and spend some of that transfer money on a few very core players we want to add this year. So, what should we be shopping for?
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There are clear indications our defending is coming together. I would argue we still need a left back who is young and fits with Pellegrini’s mindset. ExWHUemployee has identified Leonardo Koutris (currently at Olympiacos in Greece) as a low cost but serious option (NB, there was an offer for €5 made for him from Genoa, so while he will be low cost, he will not be free).
I expect that Ogbonna will be a surprise sale this summer to allow bringing in another young CB that Husillos wants to cover for Diop and Balbuena. The name that came up was Guillermo Maripán (who is likely again a deal in a £5-£7M range). Tom Heaton is a 3rd choice keeper at Burnley, and they are likely to be looking at offloading his contract, so he is a good short term fit for keeper (again, on a £2 or £3M deal).
I firmly believe that West Ham’s midfield will be very academy centric in the 2019-2020 season. Cullen, Holland, and Coventry need to be ready to start pushing for first team positions. Playing alongside Rice, Noble, and McMessi (Snodgrass) will help them develop into regular first-team players (or conversely, we will see them quickly return to the academy and know that we’re going to need to look for more help in the winter).
We really need Lanzini to regain some of his creative form, and Jack Wilshire has to stay healthy. With those players in the first team, we still need to add some squad depth that is Premier League ready. Isaac Hayden from Newcastle is pushing to leave that club and wants back into London. He’s a good fit alongside Rice and allows the club to be less reliant on the aging Mark Noble. While Mark has been great, he is getting older, and we need to start thinking about life after Mark playing a constant role.
Hayden is on fewer wages than Jonjo Shelvey weekly and is three years younger. As the club looks to continue to grow a solid younger core, he is a good fit and again, at £6M a reasonably priced option. (Note: with Rafa’s future in murky waters, it might be a great time to look at going after Jonjo Shelvey as well, but that’s a story for another day).
Up front is where we must spend our money. It is no secret that Maxi Gomez has been a target for a long time, and while he is not a done deal, I believe it is likely that he will end up at the club. His goal scoring decreased in the second half of the year, but one can put that down to a more risk-averse mode of play by the club he was on trying to avoid relegation.
Additionally, Aleksandar Mitrović fits West Ham as well in the striker role. While he did not have the greatest year ever, his style as a classic striker (in playing more for his national team than Fulham this year) would be a great physical asset for West Ham as we replace Andy Carroll and his style of play. Mitrović seems somewhat sturdier than Carroll has been as well.
We will need some squad depth and experience. Here I would look for some older players to bring in for a single year. Yacine Brahimi (an Algerian forward currently at FC Porto) is available on a free, and André Schürrle (entering his second year of a two-year loan at Fulham) is a short term forward that would fit our wage budget well if we take over his loan to Fulham.
With Fulham going down, and with the limited impact he had last year, he is likely looking for a way to get a chance to play and further his career. Hunger for more time and extending his playing life make him attractive to us on a short-term basis. Here is where I believe West Ham lines up next year.