Rumour Reel: West Ham knock back big-bucks
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We thumb through the transfer news in today’s papers and Payet looks on-course for a move to France, but not on the cheap…..
Hammers playing hardball
The Dimitri Payet saga continues and the latest coming out of Stratford, if the media are to be believed, is that West Ham have accepted their popular attacker will be leaving the club, with a move to France looking to be the most-likely outcome.
The English Premier League side won’t let Payet go on the cheap, just because he throws a tantrum however, and have, reportedly, knocked back £22.5m from Marseille for the 29-year-old Frenchman. Now, for as good as he is, fans know every player has their price, especially if the money is reinvested into the playing squad.
Hungry like the Wolfsburg
The man seemingly at the top of every major team’s wish-list this winter is Wolfsburg defender Ricardo Rodriguez, with Arsenal said to have joined the race for the left-back’s signature. Business shouldn’t be done on that one in January, with club’s preferring to pick the Swiss star up in the summer on the cheap.
Chelsea and Marseille are also believed to be hot on the heels of Rodriguez who has been seen putting in some impressive performances for the Bundesliga outfit this term. French cracks Marseille aren’t short of a few quid these days and are promising to blow their rivals out of the water to get their man. Abramovich is certainly not shy in splashing the cash himself, so that could get interesting.
Tigers show their teeth
It’s no surprise that Hull are in serious need of reinforcements in a bid to hold onto their position in the Premier League, and they took a step in the right direction by sealing the signature of Liverpool’s Lazar Markovic on-loan until the end of the season.
The Serbian forward will be plying his trade at the KCOM Stadium for the rest of the campaign and will view it as a perfect opportunity to show just what he is capable of as he looks to impress reds boss Jurgen Klopp. The 22-year-old was previously at Benfica before making a £20m move to Anfield. Let’s see if he can justify that price-tag.
Seagulls swoop on Tomo
Brighton are battling away in the Championship and look nailed-on to be playing Premier League football next season, with a chance of going up as champions at the expense of Newcastle, who everyone had picked pre-season.
With an eye on maintaining that promise, manager Chris Hughton brought Chelsea defender Fikayo Tomori to Falmer Stadium this week. The England U20 cap arrives with plenty of promise but also boasts competitive action at Chelsea, making a substitute appearance on the last game of the season in the summer. He’ll be hoping to feature more often for Brighton.
West Ham sign Holland
West Ham, with one-eye on losing Payet in this transfer window, looked to the future when adding Nathan Holland on a three-and-a-half-year deal. The Engand U19 international arrives from Everton, where he failed to break into the first-team, but we have witnessed the class coming through at Goodison Park recently.
It’s unlikely he will be given much first-team game time at Stratford this season, if any, but followers of West Ham will be delighted to see their club invest in talented, young, English talent, and will see Everton’s loss as their gain. It’s now up to Holland to repay that faith.
