West Ham United spent heavily last summer in the expectation they would be fighting for European football – not potentially finishing just one place outside the Premier League relegation zone.
The ramifications have been serious.
It means the club must sell before they can buy in the forthcoming transfer window, to ensure they do not breach profitability and sustainability rules, as they attempt to provide head coach Graham Potter with the funds to overhaul an under-performing squad.
The decline has even affected West Ham’s broadcast revenue with the club selected for fewer television games and not attracting the same level of interest. Another factor is less ‘merit money’ for finishing so far down the league table. It all adds up to the club’s revenues being below what was predicted.
Telegraph Sport understands that West Ham are therefore willing to listen to offers for a number of players including star forward Mohammed Kudus but they will not, under any circumstance, sell captain Jarrod Bowen.
There would be no shortage of takers for Bowen but despite West Ham’s plight – one source claiming they had “massively over-spent” last year – they are adamant the 28-year-old England international will stay.
There is also huge frustration at the club over the added delay in Lucas Paquetá’s alleged betting case which will not now finish until June at the earliest and which further complicates their transfer plans.
West Ham accept that they overspent last summer and also spent badly and are paying the price for assembling a squad which includes signings wanted by new head coach Julen Lopetegui and others driven by technical director Tim Steidten.
Both have left the club during a dismal campaign which is set to be the worst since the hapless Avram Grant was the manager and West Ham were relegated in 2010-11. It is a campaign that has become beset with recrimination and regret.
Senior West Ham sources argue the shocking decline can be traced to the second half of last season when performances and results tailed off under David Moyes, who had initially been expected to stay but then left when his contract ran out after not agreeing a new deal.
The feeling at West Ham was that Moyes’s time at the club had run its course and they wanted to make a big-name appointment and back him with significant spending as they aimed, again, to qualify for Europe.
West Ham finished ninth last season, after three consecutive campaigns in Europe under Moyes including winning the Europa Conference League, their first trophy since 1980. But they have only won five of their 25 matches in all competitions since January. Their only victory in their last eight games was against Luton Town who were relegated.
Ageing and unbalanced squad despite spending spree
Nine new players were signed under Lopetegui and Steidten although, in fairness, there was also input from chairman and co-owner David Sullivan. Those signings also placed pressure on the West Ham wage bill and few can be regarded as a success.
It is a sign of the lack of proper planning, for example, that Lopetegui had pushed for Jhon Durán from Aston Villa but when that move fell through Steidten arranged to buy 31-year-old Niclas Füllkrug from Borussia Dortmund for £27 million. They are both very different forwards.
There is consternation that West Ham have spent so much money and appear to have an ageing and unbalanced squad, especially with a lack of athleticism in midfield. That is something Potter has highlighted.
Füllkrug’s most noteworthy contribution so far, in an injury-hit campaign, has been to round on his team-mates following the draw at home to relegated Southampton when the German said he was “very angry” and described the performance as “s—”.
That earned sympathy from the West Ham hierarchy but was rebuked by Potter – only for him to express his own frustration following the defeat away to his former club Brighton & Hove Albion when he exasperatedly said: “Do you want me to swear?”
A senior West Ham source commented “anyone would be angry and shell-shocked” in support of Potter’s reaction, although it could be argued he was not exactly being consistent. Instead it probably offered a glimpse of the pressure he is under and the frustration he is feeling having won just three of 14 league matches since he was appointed in early January and with no discernible improvement in the way the team is playing.
Late collapses a cause for concern
What has caused particular alarm at West Ham, with answers being demanded, is the number of late goals conceded. That has happened in four of the last six games with eight points being dropped – including against Brighton when they were 2-1 up in the 89th minute and lost 3-2. With those points they would be in 13th just behind Crystal Palace and comfortably ahead of Sunday’s opponents at the London Stadium, 16th-placed Tottenham Hotspur, who have their own problems of course.
Those late collapses have led to angry questions being asked about the mindset and the commitment of some West Ham players and a sense that they became complacent given there was never a real danger of relegation due to the failure of the three promoted clubs.
That apparent apathy has even affected the supporters, it seems.
While there is faith, still, in Potter, and the belief that he needs a pre-season and a change of squad to implement his ideas, he needs to make improvements quickly after that, especially as he is using the final weeks to assess his current players.
No one at West Ham doubts Potter’s work ethic. They say that despite results the former Chelsea manager is impressing everyone at the club with his “football brain” and his determination to succeed and work at the training ground.
Rarely for a new manager, Potter counselled against trying to spend in the January window which may have improved the team but would have left the club’s finances in a more perilous position. That is something he understood.
Potter did push for the loan signing of Evan Ferguson, who he had previously worked with and helped burst on to the scene at Brighton, and although that was a low-cost recruit it is one that has not worked.
Potter and Macaulay expected to have say on transfers
West Ham need a striker but will not attempt to secure the 20-year-old on a permanent deal although there is an expectation that Potter along with head of recruitment Kyle Macaulay, who he brought in from Chelsea having also previously worked with at Brighton, will have the say on transfers this summer.
As ever with West Ham that remains to be seen although there is acceptance that there needs to be greater clarity as to who is doing what at the club and who is in control, in particular, of the transfer business.
An added complication is the obvious lack of re-sale value for much of the squad, beyond that trio of Bowen, Paquetá and Kudus.
Lack of clarity has also been a frustration with Paquetá, arguably West Ham’s best player, whose form, it is felt, has suffered by the betting case which still hangs over him. Moyes has been among the witnesses in support of the Brazilian international and there is a sense that the Football Association’s case – and the possibility that Paquetá might receive a lifetime ban – is not as strong as feared.
However the independent panel needs to decide on the balance of probability, rather than beyond reasonable doubt, and West Ham are still concerned about the worst-case scenario. It all adds to the lack of certainty at the unsettled club at present.
West Ham United spent heavily last summer in the expectation they would be fighting for European football – not potentially finishing just one place outside the Premier League relegation zone.
The ramifications have been serious.
It means the club must sell before they can buy in the forthcoming transfer window, to ensure they do not breach profitability and sustainability rules, as they attempt to provide head coach Graham Potter with the funds to overhaul an under-performing squad.
The decline has even affected West Ham’s broadcast revenue with the club selected for fewer television games and not attracting the same level of interest. Another factor is less ‘merit money’ for finishing so far down the league table. It all adds up to the club’s revenues being below what was predicted.
Telegraph Sport understands that West Ham are therefore willing to listen to offers for a number of players including star forward Mohammed Kudus but they will not, under any circumstance, sell captain Jarrod Bowen.
There would be no shortage of takers for Bowen but despite West Ham’s plight – one source claiming they had “massively over-spent” last year – they are adamant the 28-year-old England international will stay.
There is also huge frustration at the club over the added delay in Lucas Paquetá’s alleged betting case which will not now finish until June at the earliest and which further complicates their transfer plans.
West Ham accept that they overspent last summer and also spent badly and are paying the price for assembling a squad which includes signings wanted by new head coach Julen Lopetegui and others driven by technical director Tim Steidten.
Both have left the club during a dismal campaign which is set to be the worst since the hapless Avram Grant was the manager and West Ham were relegated in 2010-11. It is a campaign that has become beset with recrimination and regret.
Senior West Ham sources argue the shocking decline can be traced to the second half of last season when performances and results tailed off under David Moyes, who had initially been expected to stay but then left when his contract ran out after not agreeing a new deal.
The feeling at West Ham was that Moyes’s time at the club had run its course and they wanted to make a big-name appointment and back him with significant spending as they aimed, again, to qualify for Europe.
West Ham finished ninth last season, after three consecutive campaigns in Europe under Moyes including winning the Europa Conference League, their first trophy since 1980. But they have only won five of their 25 matches in all competitions since January. Their only victory in their last eight games was against Luton Town who were relegated.
Ageing and unbalanced squad despite spending spree
Nine new players were signed under Lopetegui and Steidten although, in fairness, there was also input from chairman and co-owner David Sullivan. Those signings also placed pressure on the West Ham wage bill and few can be regarded as a success.
It is a sign of the lack of proper planning, for example, that Lopetegui had pushed for Jhon Durán from Aston Villa but when that move fell through Steidten arranged to buy 31-year-old Niclas Füllkrug from Borussia Dortmund for £27 million. They are both very different forwards.
There is consternation that West Ham have spent so much money and appear to have an ageing and unbalanced squad, especially with a lack of athleticism in midfield. That is something Potter has highlighted.
Füllkrug’s most noteworthy contribution so far, in an injury-hit campaign, has been to round on his team-mates following the draw at home to relegated Southampton when the German said he was “very angry” and described the performance as “s—”.
That earned sympathy from the West Ham hierarchy but was rebuked by Potter – only for him to express his own frustration following the defeat away to his former club Brighton & Hove Albion when he exasperatedly said: “Do you want me to swear?”
A senior West Ham source commented “anyone would be angry and shell-shocked” in support of Potter’s reaction, although it could be argued he was not exactly being consistent. Instead it probably offered a glimpse of the pressure he is under and the frustration he is feeling having won just three of 14 league matches since he was appointed in early January and with no discernible improvement in the way the team is playing.
Late collapses a cause for concern
What has caused particular alarm at West Ham, with answers being demanded, is the number of late goals conceded. That has happened in four of the last six games with eight points being dropped – including against Brighton when they were 2-1 up in the 89th minute and lost 3-2. With those points they would be in 13th just behind Crystal Palace and comfortably ahead of Sunday’s opponents at the London Stadium, 16th-placed Tottenham Hotspur, who have their own problems of course.
Those late collapses have led to angry questions being asked about the mindset and the commitment of some West Ham players and a sense that they became complacent given there was never a real danger of relegation due to the failure of the three promoted clubs.
That apparent apathy has even affected the supporters, it seems.
While there is faith, still, in Potter, and the belief that he needs a pre-season and a change of squad to implement his ideas, he needs to make improvements quickly after that, especially as he is using the final weeks to assess his current players.
No one at West Ham doubts Potter’s work ethic. They say that despite results the former Chelsea manager is impressing everyone at the club with his “football brain” and his determination to succeed and work at the training ground.
Rarely for a new manager, Potter counselled against trying to spend in the January window which may have improved the team but would have left the club’s finances in a more perilous position. That is something he understood.
Potter did push for the loan signing of Evan Ferguson, who he had previously worked with and helped burst on to the scene at Brighton, and although that was a low-cost recruit it is one that has not worked.
Potter and Macaulay expected to have say on transfers
West Ham need a striker but will not attempt to secure the 20-year-old on a permanent deal although there is an expectation that Potter along with head of recruitment Kyle Macaulay, who he brought in from Chelsea having also previously worked with at Brighton, will have the say on transfers this summer.
As ever with West Ham that remains to be seen although there is acceptance that there needs to be greater clarity as to who is doing what at the club and who is in control, in particular, of the transfer business.
An added complication is the obvious lack of re-sale value for much of the squad, beyond that trio of Bowen, Paquetá and Kudus.
Lack of clarity has also been a frustration with Paquetá, arguably West Ham’s best player, whose form, it is felt, has suffered by the betting case which still hangs over him. Moyes has been among the witnesses in support of the Brazilian international and there is a sense that the Football Association’s case – and the possibility that Paquetá might receive a lifetime ban – is not as strong as feared.
However the independent panel needs to decide on the balance of probability, rather than beyond reasonable doubt, and West Ham are still concerned about the worst-case scenario. It all adds to the lack of certainty at the unsettled club at present.
