The full summer transfer window is less than a day old but silly season has already arrived as West Ham and Aston Villa are caught in the crossfire of a bizarre rumour.
A report claiming a £35 million battle between the Hammers and Unai Emery’s side is baffling but proves something very important about the reality of the window.
West Ham and Aston Villa have been on very different trajectories over the last couple of years.
The Irons have been regressing – picking up just 15 wins from their last 57 Premier League games dating back to January 2024.
Meanwhile Aston Villa made it to the last eight of the Champions League and have qualified for Europe again by sealing a Europa League spot.
While Villa have been ambitious in the transfer market, West Ham are telling fans the well has run dry after three years of relatively big spending.
West Ham and Villa face PSR problems
The Hammers are blaming PSR, saying the club is at its limit with no wiggle room for signings until players are sold.
Meanwhile football finance expert Kieran Maguire has named Villa as the club most at risk of a PSR breach.
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While West Ham must sell players to fund new much-needed new signings for Graham Potter, Aston Villa must offload players by the end of June simply to comply with PSR.
Hammers chief David Sullivan is banking on selling Mohammed Kudus to raise the majority of funds for Potter’s rebuild.
West Ham have actually been linked with a top Villa star as a replacement for Kudus as a result of the Midlands side’s PSR predicament.
Chelsea FC v Aston Villa - Premier League
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Given that background, a new story which has emerged – less than one day into the full summer transfer window being open – is bewildering and eye-opening.
Silly season has arrived already as West Ham and Aston Villa are dragged into a baffling £35m transfer battle.
Both Potter and Emery are on the hunt for a new full-back.
And that, according to a report from Italy, has put the claret and blues on a collision course over a star.
Corriere dello Sport report West Ham and Aston Villa have been locked in a behind-the-scenes battle to sign Atalanta’s swashbuckling full-back Raoul Bellanova.
West Ham and Villa dragged into baffling £35m transfer battle
Fulham are also said to be in the mix and making a push to beat the Hammers and Villa to the Italian international.
Bellanova was a confirmed player of interest for West Ham last year under former technical director Tim Steidten.
Now the new report from Italy claims Potter and Emery are fighting it out to sign 25-year-old Bellanova, who got nine assists from right wing-back last season.
And that is where this entire story falls down.
It’s difficult to know what to believe during the transfer window at the best of times.
But there are so many red flags with this particular transfer claim it must be addressed.
Atalanta BC v AS Roma - Serie A
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Villa’s priority is to raise around £35m plus to avoid PSR sanctions – not spend it. Not yet anyway.
Meanwhile West Ham have made it perfectly clear there’s no money for signings until players are sold.
The Hammers are hopeful of landing their first sale of the summer after a major development.
But even then, West Ham would not be moving for a right wing-back when they already have the best one in the Premier League in the shape of Aaron Wan-Bissaka.
The Hammers need a left-back if anything and Bellanova is very much a right-back or right wing-back.
It is certainly plausible that Villa are interested in order to provide more competition for – and find a potential successor to – Matty Cash.
Silly season arrives on day one for Potter and Emery
But it is stated Atalanta will not sell for anything less than £35m plus.
What this does prove is that West Ham – and in many respects Villa too – are going to be used by players, clubs and agents to drive up interest in players.
Supporters should be wary of such tactics by assessing rumours based on their own expert knowledge of their clubs.
If Villa need to raise £35-40m from sales within the next two weeks – signing another £35m player is surely going to be the furthest thing from their minds.
And if by some miracle the Hammers had £35m to spend, it would not be going on a right-back with a striker and new midfielders the top priority for Potter.
Roll up, roll up ladies and gentlemen – silly season has well and truly begun.