West Ham United could face a big problem this summer, as Newcastle United move into position to sign one of our key targets.
Julen Lopetegui has made a fine start to the summer transfer window in charge of West Ham, with the signings of Max Kilman, Luis Guilherme, Crysencio Summerville and Wes Foderingham.
The Hammers are closing in on deals for Niclas Fullkrug and Guido Rodriguez as well.
Now Newcastle could now wreck another one of the Spaniard’s plans.
More signings are needed at the London Stadium, and our poor pre-season performances have given the Hammers fans the jitters.
Personally I don’t think there is anything to worry about. We’re still missing key players like Jarrod Bowen, Lucas Paqueta, Edson Alvarez and Alphonse Areola.
And it’s worth remembering that we enjoyed a fabulous pre-season before the 2010/11 campaign – when we got relegated.
Pre-season is good to get minutes into the players’ legs, and for the new manager to try and hammer home his ideas and footballing philosophy.
That said, the Hammers head coach will not be under any illusion regarding the work that still needs to be done in the transfer market this summer.
But now, Lopetegui may well be cursing Newcastle’s interest in signing one of his targets.
Potential disaster as Newcastle move in to hijack West Ham deal
Despite making some fantastic signings already this summer, a few more are still required for Lopetegui.
One area in particular where improvements are definitely needed at West Ham is the central defensive department.
There’s bad news it seems though regarding one of Lopetegui’s targets…
According to a report from Gazzetta dello Sport (print edition August 4th, page 29), Newcastle have now thrown their hat into the ring in the race to sign Logan Costa from Toulouse.
Yesterday, the Hammers were said to be leading the race to sign the Cape Verde international this summer.
Now, this really would be a disaster as far as I’m concerned.
It seems like Jean-Clair Todibo is out of our reach now, with the Frenchman desperate to join Juventus.
And with that in mind, Logan Costa would be a fantastic backup option for us.
The 6ft 3in centre-back is a real physical specimen, and he’d be a superb partner for Max Kilman at the London Stadium.
In 31 Ligue 1 outings for Toulouse last season, the 23-year-old averaged 1.3 tackles, 3.8 clearances and 2.1 successful aerial duels per game.
During those appearances he made 56.5 passes per game on average and recorded a completion rate of 84.1% (Who Scored).
He possesses impressive pace, is very strong in the challenge, and is at an age where he will only keep getting better over the next decade.
If Newcastle beat West Ham to the signing of Logan Costa this summer, it will be a very big blow indeed for us as far as I’m concerned.
