The cynics amongst the supporters claim they’ve seen it all before: The ‘Phantom’ bids made on players which were never enough to trigger a positive response – but enough for West Ham’s transfer window dressing: To appear to be doing everything to bring in new players without ever running the risk of having to cough up the price. £50 million on Raphina and Kalvin Phillips instantly spring to mind.
Is the money really there? We will find out soon enough, £57 million buys a pretty decent striker even in January of 2025. So, now the official line from the West Ham spokesman quoted by various sources this evening is that the ‘offer has been rejected – time to accept defeat and move on‘ – the club has two choices.
Soldier on with some cobbled together ‘loan deal’ striker – or go and make a statement with spending that £50 million plus on another target in this window.
I’m tempted to yell ‘Show me the money’ – the catchphrase from Tom Cruise’s excellent Jerry Maguire ’90’s movie: ‘Words mean nothing until we actually see the cash’, in essence.
Graham Potter, along with many West Ham fans who are experiencing dejà vu at the news of this offer – will be waiting to be convinced that the cash is really there and that the board is ready to back the new coach with cold hard cash – rather than just by reeling off lists of failed bids with the excuse that ‘we tried’. As one Claret and Hugh reader suggested- that’s the West Ham Way.
