The rumour mill on potential comings and goings at West Ham is already whirring and not just regarding the manager.
It seems Julen Lopetegui finds himself at a fork in the road for his tenure as Hammers boss.
Avoid two defeats against Newcastle and Arsenal and the Spaniard will probably remain West Ham manager into the new year.
A couple of hidings, though, and the Hammers could be looking for just their 19th permanent manager.
The key to success for any club is, always has been and always will be the players.
A top manager is only as good as his players. It is then up to him to get the maximum from them in order to be successful.
The trouble is at West Ham Lopetegui has plenty of good players and thus far has failed miserably on that front.
Steidten dropped the ball on West Ham’s striker signing
Technical director Tim Steidten has to take his share of the blame.
The 57-year-old former Wolves boss is making sure that’s the case too.
Lopetegui says he cannot implement his style of play at West Ham because of the players he has been given.
Risky comments from a manager whose future is hanging in the balance.
There’s no hiding Steidten got some of the recruitment badly wrong in the summer.
Particularly in midfield and up front.
Wait until West Ham hear what Barcelona were told
The additions of Niclas Fullkrug, Guido Rodriguez, Luis Guilherme and Carlos Soler have been poor.
Two of them allegedly already want to leave West Ham.
But it was the striker signing that has left Steidten exposed to criticism.
The Hammers simply had to get that right as part of the big rebuild.
It should have been the main priority along with the defence.
A young, powerful, pacy forward was needed.
While West Ham were just getting over David Moyes snubbing Viktor Gyokeres for a paltry £17.5m, now they have to watch Jhon Duran every week thinking ‘what if’.
Duran wasn’t the only striker fitting that profile West Ham wanted to sign in the summer before opting for Fullkrug, though.
Wait until West Ham hear what Barcelona were told after approaching another top Steidten target.
Versatile Lille and Canada forward Jonathan David has been on West Ham’s radar for some time.
At one point Juventus were even convinced he was joining West Ham.
David remained with Lille in the end, where he is out of contract in the summer and, therefore, rumoured to be available for a knockdown price in January.
Before the international break Give Me Sport revealed West Ham were offered the chance to sign the 24-year-old striker in the summer, but turned it down.
David, who has already scored 13 goals and laid on two assists in 19 games for Lille so far this season, is exactly the profile of player Hammers fans wanted to see arrive.
That wasn’t the end of the story, though.
Reliable journalist Ben Jacobs – who was among the first to break news of moves for Lucas Paqueta and Declan Rice – recently revealed the names of the three striker targets West Ham still have on a shortlist.
Top Steidten pick David a £67m ‘free’ transfer
The top two targets are that man Duran – if West Ham can play on his restlessness at not being a starter at Villa – and David.
The other is Atalanta’s Ademola Lookman.
West Ham fans would take any of those right now.
But Steidten may have to revisit his shortlist after news emerging from Germany.
David looks the best bet of the trio given he will be available on a free transfer in the summer and therefore at a lower fee in January.
That is clearly hugely appealing to West Ham after a £155m summer spend.
But he may actually turn out to be the most costly.
The good news for the Hammers is that Barcelona, the club David says he has always dreamed of playing for, look to be out of the race.
The bad news is the reason for that could all but end West Ham’s interest too.
Sky Germany claims to know the details of the striker’s demands after revealing that his agent is currently busy talking to prospective clubs.
And they believe David’s next contract will amount to at least €80 million (£67m).
His agents are briefing clubs that he wants a four-year contract when he leaves Lille.
It is made clear that the £67m includes agent commissions and a potential signing-on fee. So his wages won’t be as astronomical as the £350k per week that figure would boil down to over four years.
It will still amount to around £200k, though. The alleged Hammers target is on £1.5m a year at Lille presently.
Either way he will be in line for a massive pay rise at his next club.
Whether that’s West Ham – even with Barca out of the race – now looks very doubtful indeed.
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