Manager tells Graham Potter to save some money because his star is ready for West Ham. Graham Potter has been told by one of his peers to save some money because a star is ready for the Premier League with West Ham. West Ham are strapped for cash this summer.
The club have confirmed plans to try and raise £100m offloading Hammers players. That is the only way new manager Graham Potter will be able to make signings. West Ham have £80m in losses on the horizon.
PSR will seriously restrict spending for Potter and new head of recruitment Kyle Macauley. They are paying the price for missteps taken by Tim Steidten and Julen Lopetegui during last summer’s £155m squad rebuild.
Potter must overhaul West Ham’s midfield in rebuild
West Ham have the oldest squad in the Premier League bar none. But they have brought in a manager in Potter renowned for building his teams around young, hungry talent.
The Hammers need players in all areas of the pitch, potentially even goalkeeper depending on what happens with veteran Lukasz Fabianski. Midfield is undoubtedly West Ham’s biggest problem area, though.
Edson Alvarez has been better under Potter.
But West Ham’s midfield is very one-paced and as lacking in guile and creativity as it is dynamism and depth.
It says everything that Potter had to recall James Ward-Prowse, whose limited contribution in open play saw him deemed surplus to requirements just last summer.
Manager tells Potter his star is ready for West Ham. The wrong side of 30 now, there are big question marks whether Ward-Prowse is really the answer in a Potter team.
Tomas Soucek is West Ham’s Mr reliable.
But energetic, powerful midfield presence and bite are needed. Alvarez lacks the mobility and athleticism to be a really impactful box-to-box player in the Premier League.
Guido Rodriguez has been a woeful signing and is set to be shipped out. Carlos Soler’s loan will not be made permanent either as he is on £240k per week at PSG for another two years. West Ham have been linked with a plethora of midfielders ahead of the summer.
Hammers can save millions
Young Dutch powerhouse Ezechiel Banzuzi remains a big target for Potter and Macauley after the club tried to sign him in January. Steidten did leave West Ham a forgotten gift by arranging a midfield signing who will arrive in the summer.
Academy youngster George Earthy will also be keen to impress in pre-season when he returns from his loan at Bristol City. Now a manager has told Potter to save some money because his star is ready for West Ham.
With at least two new strikers, a new centre-back and full-back cover needed as well as the midfield revamp, West Ham cannot afford to waste a single penny this summer.
So Potter may want to take note of what Portsmouth manager John Mousinho has said about Freddie Potts. Pompey boss says Potts can play for West Ham. Son of Hammers academy coach and club legend Steve Potts, the midfielder impressed Lopetegui in pre-season.
But he was sent out on loan to League One Pompey as Rodriguez and Soler arrived.
Many Hammers fans have argued Potts should have been retained given how the season has panned out and how bad the midfield has been.
Especially now Potter has come in and is giving youth a chance.
Potts has been Portsmouth’s joint-second best midfielder this season. The Premier League is a big step up from League One.
But Mousinho has told Potter Potts is ready for the big time with the Hammers. “We’ll see how things play out,” Mousinho told The News when asked about Pott’s future beyond the summer.
“But my gut instinct is Freddie should go back to West Ham and really be challenging over pre-season to get into their first team.”
Mousinho described Potts as ‘outstanding’. And he told Potter that if he decides not to use Potts in his first team next season, then Portsmouth will be at the front of the queue hoping to take him back.
