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The big window review. Was this West Ham’s best ever transfer window?

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David Gold David Sullivan Karren Brady

Today marks the end of a gripping transfer window and with Chelsea, Manchester City and Manchester United all embroiled in multi-million pound transfer sagas right up until the deadline, West Ham co-chairman David Sullivan has managed to get many top deals done under the radar. Here we will review those signings and look ahead to the season to come.

Darren Randolph: Goalkeeper

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One signing that was made before the managerial appointment of the summer was the free transfer of former Birmingham and Ireland international goalkeeper Randolph. Signed as back up to Adrian, Randolph was probably not expecting to be flung into first team action so early following the suspension of Adrian against Leicester in our second premier league game.

Rumours began to circulate about the possible return of Rob Green after some below par performances in pre-season but a man of the match performance against Bournemouth followed by a clean sheet at Anfield removed doubts surrounding him.

Carl Jenkinson, Arsenal: Right Back 

Carl Jenkinson

One of the more predictable transfers of the summer was the return of Carl Jenkinson, again on a season-long loan deal. After returning from the European U21 Championships with England it was simply a matter of time before the Hammers confirmed his arrival.

Sunderland were interested in securing his services but Carl always wanted to sign for us. He has signed a new five year deal at Arsenal this summer so perhaps a permanent deal is unlikely but he can still be valuable this season. He hasn’t started particularly well and James Tomkins has replaced the right-back in West Ham’s only victories so far this season. It will be interesting to see if Tomkins gets dropped for Jenkinson in our next game against Newcastle.

Angelo Ogbonna: Central Defender

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At a fee of £7.9million up front, Ogbonna is one of the signings of the season for us. Angelo is an Italian international and was part of the Juventus squad that made it to last season’s Champions League final.

He wanted to be playing first team football in the build-up to the European Championships in France in the summer as he aims to secure a place in the Italy squad. He seems composed and assured at the back and was instrumental in our two fantastic away victories to date. He was, in my opinion, unfairly substituted in the first half against Bournemouth as he wasn’t the worst defender on the pitch in that game. A quality addition, the future looks bright for us with Angelo in defence.

Pedro Obiang, Sampdoria: Central Midfielder

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Obiang was another signing that was completed before Slaven Bilic was appointed but Slaven appears to be a fan.

He has started the last two games and against Liverpool he was key to our solid defensive unit. Obiang was signed for a small fee of approximately £5million and this could prove to be a very shrewd acquisition. He is a player who really seems to understand the club.

Alex Song, FC Barcelona: Central Midfielder

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The first of our FOUR deadline day signings was a certain Alex Song who returns on another season-long loan deal.

From what I can gather this deal has an option of a further year loan extension. This, if activated, would mean we have song on loan for the remainder of his Barcelona contract.

Once this contract finishes Song will be available to sign on a free transfer and I believe the board plan to sign him then, providing he is still part of our first team plans. Song was a revelation in the first half of the 2014/15 campaign and although he is injured for a few months now, he will be a very important option when he returns.

Dimitri Payet, Marseille: Attacking Midfielder

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The ‘marquee’ signing of the window is the French playmaker, Dimitri Payet. We have been linked with many Marseille players this window including Gignac, who chose a career in Mexico rather than East London. Andre Ayew and Florian Thauvin attracted interest from the Hammers but those players ended up at Swansea and Newcastle respectively. We even considered signing Marcelo Bielsa as manager!

Bielsa has recently resigned from his post and I believe the sale of Payet played a part in his decision, because Payet is that good! He is exactly what we lacked last season, he has the ability to take the ball from the defence and run the length of the pitch to relieve pressure. At £10.9 million he is a steal. His assist and chances created statistics speak for themselves.

Manuel Lanzini, Al Jazira: Winger

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As is tradition with West Ham, this season’s South American loanee is the Argentine Manuel Lanzini. The winger, nicknamed ‘The Jewel’ already has two goals in all competitions in as many starts and he, like Payet appears to be the type of player who can unlock defences with pace, skill and trickery.

He is just one of the attacking players that I cannot wait to see this season. Whether or not Manuel gets the opportunity to show he is worth signing on a permanent deal remains to be seen.

Victor Moses, Chelsea: Winger

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Straight after signing a contract extension at Chelsea, Moses became our second deadline deal on a season-long loan.

Some people believe that Chelsea extended his deal to raise Moses’ price if we want to purchase him permanently but we will have to see if this is the case.

Moses was a key player for Stoke last year and after the fans called for more width in the squad the board have duly delivered. Moses will provide us with the ability to rotate between a diamond and a wide formation.

Michail Antonio, Nottingham Forest: Winger

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Another wide player to join the club, the fourth and final player to be announced this deadline day was Antonio.

Michail said that he is ‘buzzing’ to sign for West Ham as he is a fan of the club. The £7million winger brings, in his own words, ‘pace, power and goals’ to the club. From what I have seen of Antonio he is the type of player who will look to take on opposition defenders one on one and look to mix up play.

One criticism I have had of Matt Jarvis was that he was very one dimentional, he will always look for the dead ball line and put an out-swinging cross into the box. Hopefully Antonio, aswell and Moses and Lanzini, will keep defenders guessing.

Nikica Jelavic, Hull City: Striker

The third deal to be announced on deadline day was the signing of Croatian striker Nikica Jelavic.

Having previously worked with Jelavic with the Croatian national team, Slaven obviously trusts that Jelavic can make an impact at the club.

A two year deal means that the risk is minimal. Jelavic has scored goals at Premier League level but his consistency isn’t phenomenal. But, he is only going to provide cover by the looks of things and with Carroll, Sakho, Valencia and Zarate already on the books Jelavic seems to complete the attacking armoury of our side

Further Recruits:

We were unable to get the deal done for Tottenham Hotspur striker Emmanuel Adebayor due to regulations regarding the amount of domestic loans allowed in one squad.

We have signed a few prospects to provide depth in our squad. Arsenal defender George Dobson and Manchester City forward Martin Samuelson are both tipped for bright futures at the club while Stephen Hendrie may also prove a decent option at left back.

Many other targets have moved onto different clubs rather than us. Javier Hernandez chose to sign for Bayer Leverkusen as they were able to offer him a package that would be too much for the board to match. Many targets from abroad such as Adem Ljajic, Juan Iturbe, Gervinho, Simone Zaza, Seydou Doumbia, Pione Sisto, Alessandro Matri, Moussa Sow, Burak Yilmaz, Alen Halilovic all decided against a move in favour of signing elsewhere or fighting for a place at their current club. Obviously we were NEVER going to sign more than perhaps 2 or 3 of these players and I would advise you not to be to disheartened by this as it is unclear how serious our interest in many of these targets were and the business we have done is probably the best transfer window in the clubs history!

Departure List:

Matt Jarvis

  • Matt Jarvis – Norwich (loan)
  • Kevin Nolan – Released
  • Modibo Maiga – Al Nassr (undisclosed fee)
  • Jussi Jaaskelainen – Wigan Athletic (Free)
  • Carlton Cole – Released
  • Nene – Released
  • Guy Demel – Released
  • Stewart Downing – Middlesbrough (£7million)
  • Diego Poyet – MK Dons (loan)
  • Reece Burke – Bradford (loan)
  • Kieran Bywater – Released
  • Sean Maguire – Released
  • Kusu Makasi – Chelmsford City (loan)
  • Paul McCallum – Leyton Orient (Free)
  • Dan Potts – Luton Town (Free)

What are your opinions on our transfer window and who do you think will prove to be our signing of the season? Join the conversation below

COYI

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