West Ham attain verbal settlement for £9m “warrior”

After a usually constructive Premier League Summer time Collection marketing campaign, can West Ham United begin to construct some positivity forward of the brand new season?

On Sunday, objectives from Niclas Füllkrug and Jarrod Bowen noticed the Hammers beat Bournemouth 2-0 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia.

4 days earlier, Graham Potter‘s crew had additionally defeated Everton 2-1 in Chicago, thereby ending second within the Summer time Collection standings, under solely Manchester United, who they’d narrowly misplaced 2-1 in opposition to of their US-tour opener in East Rutherford.

After being appointed in January, Potter received solely 5 of 19 matches in cost, thereby choosing up fewer points-per-game than his sacked predecessor, Julen Lopetegui, so will come into this new marketing campaign below severe scrutiny.

If the Irons are going to get again to difficult for European qualification, they nonetheless require just a few extra signings, so might one be about to reach?

West Ham United’s switch search

Following the discharge of veteran Łukasz Fabiański, West Ham have been available in the market for a brand new goalkeeper all through the summer season, in search of to improve Alphonse Areola, following the Frenchman’s underwhelming marketing campaign.

The Hammers have been excited about Mads Hermansen of Leicester Metropolis, Viktor Johansson of Stoke Metropolis and Sheffield United’s Michael Cooper, however have seemingly settled on their primary goal to turn out to be primary.

That is as a result of, as reported by Fabrizio Romano, West Ham are “in superior talks” with Botafogo to signal their shot-stopper John Victor.

Romano provides elsewhere that the Hammers at the moment are “advancing to key phases” of the deal, and that John “desires the transfer”, subsequently stating that they’ve reached a “verbal settlement”. He’ll price round £9m.

Botafogo, for his or her half, “have reached an settlement” to signal Neto from Bournemouth, as reported by David Ornstein of The Athletic, thereby securing a alternative, suggesting additional that John is about to swap Rio de Janeiro for East London.

How John Victor will enhance West Ham

As already outlined, goalkeeper is actually a place of want at West Ham, and the desk under paperwork why.

Because the desk outlines, it was truly the now-departed Fabiański who largely boasted higher numbers within the Premier League final season, most notably with regards to save proportion and xG prevented, however neither he nor Areola lined themselves in glory.

Thus, John will certainly arrive to be the starter and, assuming the deal is completed in time, which means the Brazilian will likely be donning the gloves on the Stadium of Mild in opposition to Sunderland on the opening day of the season.

The 29-year-old joined Botafogo from Santos in January 2024 and picked a great time to maneuver to the Engenhão, a key determine as Fogo received their first Brasileirão title since 1995, in addition to their first-ever Copa Libertadores trophy, with John the primary all through the marketing campaign.

He then captured international consideration through the Membership World Cup earlier this summer season, beginning all 4 matches as his crew reached the knockout phases, most notably defeating European champions Paris Saint-Germain 1-0 on the Rose Bowl.

These statistics at a high-level competitors are actually encouraging, therefore why teammate Philipe Sampaio, who’s a centre-back, described his goalkeeper as a “warrior”.

Meantime, Matt Pyzdrowski of the Athletic was actually impressed, first praising the ‘high quality of his distribution’ and ‘technical potential’ when it comes to in possession with the ball at his ft.

Moreover, they go onto remark that John ‘makes full use of his bodily presence’ in addition to the truth that the 29 12 months outdated is a ‘high-level performer’ with regards to shot-stopping, concluding that he could be a ‘sensible’ and reasonably priced addition for whichever European membership are in a position to get their palms on him.

So why will he show to be a greater signing than future teammate Callum Wilson?

Nicely, whereas the England worldwide’s high quality has by no means been doubtful, he can by no means be totally relied upon with regards to health and availability, seeing simply 458 minutes of motion for Newcastle final season as a result of a again after which hamstring damage.

On prime of this, Wilson just isn’t a assured starter, particularly after Füllkrug and membership captain Bowen linked up very properly as a entrance two through the pre-season friendlies out in America. Regardless of the bonus of arriving on a free, the 33-year-old’s file of simply 11 objectives in all competitions throughout the final two seasons is hardly essentially the most encouraging.

Thus, whereas Wilson might nonetheless show to be a shrewd addition, fitness-permitting John might change into a transformational signing, not solely because of his personal high quality, however on condition that he will likely be filling a place of real want.