West Ham fans have been bemoaning their club’s typically slow start to the summer transfer window but an update on talks with Chelsea means it could be about to burst into life.
Hammers supporters are fed up of hearing the club has to sell to buy.
Especially as West Ham watch the likes of Chelsea and even Brentford going out and getting the players they want in early.
West Ham continue to insist PSR is restricting spending, meaning no signings can arrive until sales are made.
The Hammers have made no secret of the fact they are banking on selling Mohammed Kudus for a sizeable fee to pay for Graham Potter’s much-needed rebuild.
Money no object for Chelsea but West Ham must cut their cloth
When Chelsea were deliberating whether to pay the £25m clause for Jadon Sancho, they held talks with West Ham about instantly flipping the winger to east London.
In those talks, as first revealed by Hammers News, Chelsea and West Ham discussed a possible deal involving Kudus and Blues players.
Those initial talks came to nothing.
Since then West Ham have again confirmed they can’t buy until they sell.
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Much to the frustration of head of recruitment Kyle Macaulay, who arrived from Stamford Bridge in January.
Photo by Charlotte Wilson/Offside/Offside via Getty Images
Photo by Charlotte Wilson/Offside/Offside via Getty Images
Macaulay is concerned he’ll miss out on top Hammers targets, such as the Moises Caicedo-esque midfielder he believes is key to transforming West Ham – Raphael Onyedika.
West Ham are also losing ground on prime striker target Evann Guessand.
Wolves have leapfrogged the Hammers for Nice striker Guessand and have a £25m deal lined up.
The summer transfer window may only be a week old, but it has been abundantly clear for at least six months big changes are needed at West Ham.
Solhekol’s Chelsea update means West Ham’s window may ignite
Fans expected the club to have their ducks in a row and deals lined up ready to go – both in terms of ins and outs.
But Kaveh Solhekol’s Chelsea update means West Ham’s window could be about to ignite.
Sky Sports’ chief reporter Solhekol confirmed Hammers News’ exclusive about West Ham’s talks with Chelsea over Kudus.
But he later provided an update on the situation that all points towards the Hammers at least doubling their money.
Photo by Bryn Lennon/Getty Images
Photo by Bryn Lennon/Getty Images
Chelsea ‘haven’t said no’ to Kudus despite West Ham making £70m fee clear in talks
Solhekol revealed West Ham are confident of getting at least £70m for Kudus having rejected that amount from a Saudi club.
But, crucially, the reporter – who is known to get information from West Ham chief David Sullivan – has revealed the situation between Chelsea and West Ham is still very much live.
Because the Blues ‘have not said no’ to signing Kudus and are currently still mulling over signing him.
That’s despite the Hammers making it known in talks they want around the £70m mark for the Ghanaian.
West Ham revealed three Premier League clubs want Kudus.
Kudus fits Chelsea’s age profile for signings.
And Todd Boehly won’t like the idea of missing out on a deal to a Premier League rival – as he has proved with moves for Caicedo, Romeo Lavia and a host of others in his time at Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea the perfect club for Hammers to get good value and fast
It means the Hammers are now well placed to get the kind of value for Kudus that would hand Potter and Macaulay a significant transfer war chest.
It was revealed previously that West Ham aim to make over £100m in sales for Potter’s kitty.
A chunk of that will depend on the outcome of Lucas Paqueta’s case as he will be sold if cleared of spot-fixing.
In an ideal world West Ham would be writing last season off as one to forget and looking to build around players like Kudus.
It is far from an ideal world this summer.
But if West Ham were going to wish for a club to be interested in Kudus this summer in order to get top money and a quick sale, it would be Chelsea.
If Boehly and co are considering signing Kudus, as Solhekol claims, then the Hammers’ window could be on the verge of bursting into life very soon.