Official Transfer rumours and gossip thread

[Sydney_Iron]

"The window is open for all clubs in Europe's top five leagues on Monday, January 1st 2024 and closes on Thursday 1 February 2024. In England, the window will close at 11pm (UK time) Players linked in Andr?© Trindade (MF) - Fluminense Jonathan Tah (CB) - Bayer Leverkusen Dan Axel-Zagadou (CB) - Stuttgart Serhou Guirassy (Str) - Stuttgart Akor Adams (Str) - Montpellier Hugo Ekitike (Str) - Paris Saint-Germain Ronnie Edwards (CB) - Peterborough Ian Maatsen (LB/LMF) - Chelsea Kyle Walker-Peters (RB) - Southampton Players signed Kalvin Phillips - Man City (Loan) Linked out Benrahma Kehrer - Monaco Ings - Southampton Cornet Nayef Aguerd Fornals Players confirmed out Kehrer - Monaco (Loan) Kriszti?°n Hegyi - FC Den Bosch(Loan) Gideon Kodua - Wycombe Wanderers (Loan) Conor Coventry - Charlton spacer"

[Fauxstralian]

Ogbonna in his last season and Zouma's knee looks week to week If as rumoured Aguerd is being tempted into Saudi retirement by ££££ and Kehrer is looking elsewhere then hopefully Steidten has been assessing centre half options Might have to try and bring summer targets forward to January. If that cant happen Aguerd should be told he is staying for the rest of the season

[Willtell]

"More forward options would make a hell of a difference to the way we play I'm sure. A striker means one of our two left footed right wingers would need to switch sides permanently or during games. It's also silly to keep risking not having decent back-up full backs if Johnson and Kehrer are off as seems likely. In fact all of Benrahma, Ings, Coventry, Cornet Fornals, Kehrer, Ogbonna, Cresswell and Johnson need replacing asap"

[goose]

I still think some options across the front 3 should be the priority. There’s zero point in having Cornet or Ings on the bench.

[Kaiser Zoso]

"On that showing last night, forget Nelson and Eddie (see what I did there)"

[Barty]

Tonights result has put us in the CL race and with the right signings we could secure qualification in the springtime These 2 results vs Man U and Arsenal should help us attract proper talent !

[Barty]

West Ham 4 Arsenal 1 Nailed on !!!

[Willtell]

"Just looked up Sasa Kalajdzic. He's the 6'7"" Austrian Peter Crouch that has spent most of last year recovering from an ACL tear that required surgery... Not particularly prolific but would probably compliment Bowen and Kudus well. Might also mean Moyes might have less reason to put bean pole Soucek in midfield..."

[RichyP]

"we are also being linked with Timo Werner. Scott_D - while i agree that we need an upgrade on soucek, for me if we signed a proper wide player for the left (a right footed left side player as that seems to be what Moyes prefers) so basically someone as good as Bowen but on the left we can then move Paqueta into the middle with JWP and Alvarez which would make our midfield much better. This assumes we play kudus on the right and Bowen up top. A proper striker up top would be better than Bowen.This alongside a good wide left player would then start to give us good options on the bench and an opportunity to properly rotate the squad as Moyes cant start them all. We also need a CH. So my priority would be Left sided attacking midfielder, striker, Centre Half in that order. Everything else can wait until the summer. Players who can leave to make room/raise money - Benrahma, Cornet, Fornals, Johnson"

[Barty]

"Cheers Swiss, a quick google search doesn´t make me excited by these names, Hugo has time on his side though The other one seems to be a Wolverhampton injury prone flop! No thanks Need to be more ambitious, this side Moyes has built has more potential than any side has in my time supporting this club so we should be able to attract better more proven potentiual"

[scott_d]

Said it recently but I honestly think we would be much stronger with an upgrade on Soucek in midfield. Imagine Diame in his prime running that midfield with JWP? Or Kouyate at his best? That's the kind of midfielder I think woudl make us a much stronger team. Soucek just isn't mobile enough in my opinion and his goals do not make up for it.

[Swiss.]

Also Hugo Ekitike. Just go on newsnow.co.uk for the latest bollocks. To be fair they are more accurate than the shit UK media in my experience.

[Swiss.]

Sasa Kalajdzic apparently

[Barty]

So who are the media linking us with?

[Kaiser Zoso]

"I saw that Cov striker play on TV once, he looked out of his depth in the Championship. Was only one game to be fair, but he didn’t look anything above bang average."

[LAF]

"Lot of noise seeping out that we no longer see a striker as a priority in view of getting our 3 forwards interchanging as they do. I hope this some clever smokescreen, to make us to look like a desperate would-be buyer, if true. Of course we need a striker. - we have done for more than a season."

[Sir Alf]

"The priorities are obvious. I was of the opinion a central striker was the main one but another season of watching Soucek in a midfield that usually concedes possession, we desperately need a quality wide left midfielder. I’d put that ahead of the central striker if we could guarantee no injury to Bowen, Kudus or Paqueta at some point ( we can’t ). Can we get that wide left man of the requisite quality ( 30 million + ) in the Jan window ? It’s harder for sure and will Moyes see it as a priority ? The latter question I would say no he doesn’t. As mentioned on the match thread, he’s never played a proper wide left midfield player in his time at West Ham has he? And it would mean dropping Soucek."

[goose]

There’s no argument to be had. Alex Scott is a number 6 - he’s nothing like Kudus.

[Manuel]

"I know he's not a winger, do they even exist now? he's a ball carrier, the same as Kudus, so we were never going to sign two of them. Don't bother arguing, like you always do."

[Manuel]

"I know he's not a winger, do they even exist now? he's a ball carrier, the same as Kudus, so we were never going to sign two of them. Don't bother arguing, like you always do."

[goose]

Alex Scott isn’t a winger. Position wise he’s comparable to Alvarez or maybe JWP.

[Manuel]

"Scott looks a talent, but if we signed him we likely wouldn't have gone for kudus, and I'd prefer kudus. Scott might be injury prone too. The Cov striker is an interesting one, no one in the PL went in for him."

[LeroysBoots]

Alex Scott at Bournemouth starting to look like the winger we should have bought when we were linked

[Fauxstralian]

Was disappointed we didnt look closer at the Coventry striker and obviously now he is out of reach. Broja was promising at Southampton but since back at Chelsea and post injury has looked very poor Typical Chelsea ... they have him plus Jackson & Nkunku bought recently but now looking at others. Suspect Toney will be one they look at. Reckon if Arsenal get him they could well win the League That said given Brentford have paid him through an 8 month ban they should put another ¬£10m -¬£20m on the fee for the ungrateful cսnt. Hopefully Steidten has someone lined up. Reckon the likes of Paqueta & Kudus have shown that joining someone like us is a good route to prove ypurself if you eventually want to play for a Champions league team.

[Barty]

"Agent confirms January move for striker chased by Arsenal, Man Utd, Newcastle and West Ham The agent of Santos striker Marcos Leonardo has confirmed the Brazilian will change clubs “this winter”, and varying reports claim Manchester United, Arsenal, Newcastle and West Ham will all have a say in where he ends up. Leonardo, 20, plies his trade for Brazilian side Santos where he’s already made a remarkable number of appearances. Despite his tender age, Leonardo has turned out 164 times for Santos, notching 54 goals and 11 assists along the way. His most recent season in Brazil was an impressive one, with Leonardo scoring 21 goals in 45 matches – a ratio just shy of one goal in two. Leonardo has also wowed for Brazil’s Under-20s where he’s scored 15 times in just 13 appearances. Unsurprisingly, Leonardo has been monitored by a series of European sides as well as many from within the Premier League. Real Madrid, Roma and Sevilla are all understood to be in the mix when Leonardo leaves Santos. In fact, Roma reportedly submitted three bids for the striker over the summer, with the biggest worth just over €20m. However, according to the player’s agent, Rafaela Pimenta, Leonardo had pre-agreed to stay with Santos until the end of the Brazilian domestic season. “Already in the previous transfer market he had the possibility of being sold, but Santos’ sporting situation was very particular,” said Pimenta (as quoted by The Evening Standard). “He agreed to stay because he wanted to help out until the end of the championship. He didn’t want to leave because it wasn’t the right thing to do.” But with the Brazilian season concluding in early-December, the prospect of a January move is coming into focus. a battle for the ages Leonardo on the move in January… but where? Newcastle and West Ham are confirmed admirers of the Brazilian. West Ham’s need for a new frontman may have just swelled with The Independent reporting Michail Antonio suffered a knee injury while with Jamaica during the international break. However, The Standard also put Man Utd and Arsenal in the frame if Leonardo leaves in January and per his agent, that’s exactly what he’ll do. “But the time has come to move,” concluded Pimenta. “He wants to have a European experience and his time will come this winter.” According to Fabrizio Romano, Santos will demand around £17.5m plus a sizeable commitment in add-ons before letting Leonardo leave. Leonardo's goals got us into the champions league in my second season in football manager :) Here's hoping"

[CanningTownWA]

I see that Viktor Gy??keres who was at Coventry and we were linked with in the summer has scored 17 goals in 20 games. He cost €20M but has a €100m buy out clause now.