Potter is about to lose a pricey playerplaceholder image
Potter is about to lose a pricey player | Getty Images
West Ham are about to offload one of their expensive investments from recent years.
West Ham are set to offload a player who featured regularly last season as Graham Potter continues to shape his squad. Potter came into the new season needing to hit the ground running, and that has not happened, albeit only one game has been played, with the Iron on the wrong end of a drugging at the hands of newly promoted Sunderland.
Potter knows he will find himself on the hotseat if his side do not drum up some form in the early weeks of the season, with West Ham having not picked up under the England boss during his first few months in charge.
Potter has been slowly putting his own stamp on his squad this summer, and the work is not done, but there will be outgoings as well as incomings. One of the next outgoings is likely to be Edson Alvarez, according to Fabrizio Romano, who says the defensive midfielder is headed to Jose Mourinho’s Fenerbahce on a loan deal that could become permanent in the future.
Romano initially said on Monday on X: “More on Edson Álvarez and Fenerbahçe exclusive story: deal getting very close now! Positive negotiations in the recent hours with West Ham over loan with option deal. Agreement also getting closer with the player, as revealed today.”
He added on Tuesday: “Edson Álvarez can become Fenerbahçe's new player as early as today.”
Alvarez made 28 Premier League appearances for West Ham last season, and he was a £34million investment for the Hammers in 2023. A departure now is a potentially risky move financially, but it seems Potter has not been impressed. The Hammers likely now need more depth in the heart of their midfield, and they will not receive any large chunk of cash upfront to help them find it, with Alvarez leaving on loan.
Potter on Sunderland defeat
Speaking after the Sunderland game, Potter said: “The result is obviously bad for us, and the second half was really disappointing. In the first half, I thought we were good. I thought we did lots well in terms of quieting the crowd down and creating some opportunities. We could have scored, I thought, but nevertheless, we felt OK. We started a bit slow in the second half, and from out of nowhere, a goal goes in and it becomes difficult. It was a game where probably the first goal, especially here with the environment, was going to be challenging for us. But we tried to push.
“But in trying to push, we opened ourselves up. The second goal’s a poor one - a mistake leads to a cheap set-piece, and then we didn’t do the basics well enough in the second phase. We haven’t done the basics well enough - it’s as simple as that, and we have to improve that.”
He added: “Their first goal didn’t come from any fantastic play from their perspective, and I don’t say that with any disrespect. It was just a ball in the box that we have to do better with. Whether we thought subconsciously it was a comfortable one, I’m not sure, but that’s not good for us at all. In these environments, you’re never comfortable. You’re never safe, and we didn’t do enough at the start of the second half. Even though it was stop-start, we didn’t do enough, and there wasn’t too much to like about that second half from our perspective.”
Continue Reading