West Ham hold talks with “world-class” attacker as Sullivan backs Potter
West Ham plotting £42m swoop for “complete” 19-goal ace who Chelsea want
Turning their attention towards Graham Potter’s first summer transfer window in charge, West Ham United are now reportedly plotting a move to sign a 19-goal striker ahead of Chelsea.
Max Kilman’s growth within the West Ham rollercoaster ride of this season has been less remarkable than the highs and lows experienced by some Hammers under first Lopetegui and then Graham Potter: The ex-Wolves captain has just been immense.
Kilman has been an ever-present this season, only missing a few minutes when a rib injury forced his substitution. West Ham’s £40 million man has been the rock around which both head coaches have built a defence – whether that be alongside Jean Clair Todibo, Konstantinos Mavropanos, Aaron Cresswell or Vlad Coufal: He’s played with them all.
Described earlier in the season as ‘Hammers unsung hero’, Kilman lifted the lid on West Ham’s much more aggressive mindset coming into the Leicester City game with one simple sentence:
“We’re definitely very confident for this game:” Kilman told whufc.com.
In lip-service to the early Jamie Vardy strike which scuppered West Ham early-on the last time the two sides met, Kilman added: “We need to set our stall out from the start of the game and do our best and make sure we come away with a good result’.”
Which is player speak for ‘we need to wake up and not concede in the first fifteen minutes any more this season’.
Prior to Arsenal, West Ham had one of the worst defensive records in the Premier League for conceding in the first ten minutes. So it will be interesting, shall we say, to see if this determination to be ready from the start can keep another clean sheet at home tonight. Max Kilman cannot be far away from achieving his ‘big aim’ – back in August he was reported as being super-motivated to get into the full England side. He cannot be far away from new manager Thomas Tuchel’s squad, to be named next week.
The Hammers would face the added little juicy reward of going above Everton in the Premier League with a win and three points tonight, and, just for Claret and Hugh reader ‘zahama‘ who hates it when I mention David Moyes, I shan’t .
Aston Villa to shine spotlight squarely on West Ham co-owner David Sullivan with £41m bid for ‘unstoppable’ attacker
The latest example of that was in January when Villa brought in Donyell Malen permanently, and Marco Asensio and Marcus Rashford on loan deals.
Graham Potter managed to sign Evan Ferguson on loan, although he did bring James Ward-Prowse back to the London Stadium after his failed loan stint with Nottingham Forest.
The Hammers squad is in urgent need of attention, and Potter is said to be planning a big revamp amongst the playing staff at the club this summer.
It’s just a shame that the Hammers didn’t make one or two more key signings when we needed to in January.
The club had an absoltue shocker by failing to sign one particular player in the summer of 2024 as well.
Aston Villa to shine spotlight on Sullivan with Samu Aghehowa bid
So it seems like Villa could be about to succeed where the Hammers failed.
