Good and bad news for West Ham as a result of Southampton’s promotion. There’s good and bad news for West Ham as a result of Southampton’s promotion to the Premier League on Sunday afternoon.
West Ham have been there, done it and got the t-shirt when it comes to the ‘world’s richest match’. The Hammers have been in three Championship play-off finals in the last 20 years, winning two and losing one.
So West Ham know how both Southampton and Leeds United are feeling this evening. But this year West Ham had a vested interest in the Saints vs Leeds play-off final.
Southampton edged a tight game to beat Leeds 1-0 and secure promotion to the Premier League.
The £12m game for West Ham
So Russell Martin’s Saints will join Julen Lopetegui’s Hammers in the top flight along with Ipswich and Leicester. The Southampton vs Leeds clash was of significant interest to West Ham.
Especially Lopetegui and technical director Tim Steidten. There’s good and bad news for West Ham as a result of Southampton’s promotion and it concerns five players.
Firstly West Ham-owned midfield star Flynn Downes.
The boyhood Hammers fan has spent the season on loan at Southampton having grown fed up of a lack of game time under David Moyes. When the Scot and Steidten spent £64m to sign Edson Alvarez and James Ward-Prowse last summer, it was clear Downes was not going to be a starter for West Ham.
Whether anything changes now Lopetegui has taken over remains to be seen. Although a big favourite with his fellow West Ham fans, many wonder whether Downes has what it takes to be a starter in central midfield for the Hammers in the Premier League.
Saints have an option to buy Downes for around £12m – a slight profit for West Ham on their original £10.5m outlay. Reporting prior to the final stated Southampton would only be able to sign Downes if they got promoted.
Well now they will definitely have the money to complete that deal and add vital funds to Lopetegui and Steidten’s transfer kitty. It may have been a £120m game for Saints but it was a £12m match for the Hammers.
Money for sign-Ings?
Another piece of good news for West Ham is that Southampton’s promotion could enable Lopetegui to offload unwanted striker Danny Ings. Southampton were heavily linked with a move to bring Ings back to his old club in the last two windows.
Their promotion now means that is a distinct possibility. Martin will want a proven Premier League goalscorer to help his side try and stay up. Previous links to Ings suggests Martin is a fan and Ings would surely be open to the move.
On the flip side, Southampton’s promotion is likely the death knell for West Ham’s hopes of signing Kyle Walker-Peters.
West Ham wanted to sign the rapid right-back in January and were said to lining him up on a free transfer this summer. But talk was that Walker-Peters would consider signing a new contract if Southampton went up. It remains to be seen whether that is the case.
The other two pieces of good news for West Ham come from Leeds.
The Hammers know the pain of missing out after losing to Palace in the play-off final in 2004.
Leeds duo linked with West Ham
They also know it means you likely lose some of your top players. West Ham have been heavily linked with Leeds’ Championship player of the season Crysencio Summerville and Wilfried Gnonto.
It seems highly unlikely the Elland Road club will be able to keep both those stars. And with West Ham actively hunting a new forward who can play off the left – fresh links are inevitable following Leeds’ failure to go up.
That will certainly make signing Summerville or Gnonto more realistic for the Hammers. And probably a lot cheaper too as the financial reality of another season in the second tier bites.
