Graham Potter must be starting to learn the harsh truth about life as West Ham boss… identifying players is one thing, but signing them is quite another.
The new Hammers gaffer had barely got his feet under his desk at the London Stadium before letting the club hierarchy know that he wanted to sign Lille duo Angel Gomes and Jonathan David.
Both players are available on a free transfer in the summer, but whether Potter was aware of the club’s interest in them before his arrival is uncertain.
Because, as most Hammers fans will know, West Ham had already made efforts to lure both players in late December before Potter arrived in East London. Claret & Hugh ran a story early in January stating that the club were “a million miles away” in their bid to sign David, who had actually been offered to the Hammers 12 months earlier for £20m.
We also broke the unfortunate news that West Ham had been outbid for England international and David’s teammate, Gomes. So when Potter arrived and said, “Get me those boys from Lille,” he possibly didn’t know that we’d already tried.
Club bosses had mandated a third party to conduct negotiations for Gomes, and to say things went badly would be an understatement. In terms of botched transfer bids, it was as bad as West Ham offering £45m for Jhon Durán two days after Aston Villa had rejected a €70m bid from PSG.
And therein lies the problem. West Ham do have the willingness—and in some cases, the funds—to sign players, but unfortunately, the club lack a competent negotiator.
It was always C&H’s understanding that Karren Brady led the January move for talented Dutchman Ezechiel Banzuzi. His club, OH Leuven, were far from impressed with the Hammers’ ‘first and final offer’ approach to negotiations and promptly turned on their heels, saying, “No thanks.”
Duran agent unhappy with summer transfer farce
Jhon Durán’s agent, Jonathan Herrera, is said to be unhappy with West Ham’s mishandling of his client’s transfer and is reportedly not keen to deal with the Irons again. This is a serious issue considering that some of South America’s brightest young talent is on his books.
Factor in the botched and clumsy early approach for Gomes—which left his close-knit team of representatives reluctant to deal with West Ham’s third-party negotiating team—and a worrying pattern emerges.
Chairman David Sullivan appears to have taken a back seat and is no longer involved in negotiations, having delegated duties elsewhere. Tim Steidten did some negotiating and had a tendency to overpay, but he was new to the role and learning.
Graham Potter has arrived at the club and brought with him Kyle Macaulay, but it’s worth remembering that this is his first time as department head of player recruitment—and he does not negotiate deals. He was Chelsea’s ‘Head of Data Analysis’ and previously an analyst at Brighton, where Dan Ashworth was the director of football.
Kyle Macaulay is a talent spotter, not a negotiator
West Ham’s most important signing might be a negotiator
The whole situation has left West Ham in something of a transfer mess, with no deals looking close. So while some fans got very excited when it was revealed that Potter was pushing hard to sign Angel Gomes, there is only so much he can do.
He can instruct the club to try and sign a player, and no doubt those at the top of West Ham can take that instruction seriously. Unfortunately, when it comes to either haggling with a selling club or talking to a player’s representatives, we are failing.
The club urgently need to appoint an experienced football person with a proven track record and a solid contacts book. Because without doing so, we’ll continue to be the laughing stock of the transfer market.
