West Ham’s £18 million done deal | Credit where it is due
At the time last summer when West Ham were betwixt and between, with David Moyes just out of the building and Julen Lopetegui finding his feet having only been appointed 18 days earlier, a decision was taken to sell a fan favourite which was greeted with widespread disappointment: I suspect Claret and Hugh were amongst those sad to see the midfielder – himself an avid Hammers fan – sold to Southampton.
Tim Steidten, who would presumably have green-lighted the sale of Flynn Downes to St Mary’s, is no more at West Ham having followed Lopetegui out of the door. But he still deserves great credit for managing to achieve the sale of Downes for what looks, in hindsight, a mammoth fee at £18 million.
Downes has disappointed and Southampton have been relegated: At the time last July Flynn D. Had been out on a season-long loan with the Saints and had helped them secure promotion so they were delighted to secure his services.
In the context of what followed – their awful 2024-5 season which saw them relegated with what looks like a record low points tally – eighteen million looks about ten million over the odds for which West Ham have cause to be grateful to their now – departed technical director.
Furious fans last summer were critical that Downes had left and West Ham had failed, as part of the done deal, to secure the signing of target Kyle Walker-Peters heading to London Stadium: However selling Downes for three million pounds more than West Ham subsequently paid for Aaron Wan-Bissaka was a Steidten masterstroke.
Can’t help but worry that West Ham’s transfer activity in the coming window is unlikely to be quite so canny.
