Hmmm....Does the latest Tarkowski bid of £35m (inc add ons) tell us the Board are planning to sell Rice?

[FatPigIron]

In a very unpleasant moment, the horrible thought (headline above) just occurred to me.... My thinking:

£35m on just 1 player? What about the others we need - LB especially? We only got 26 odd milllion for players who have been sold, so there's a big shortfall - especially if we are to buy a LB...and reserve striker....all which, I suspect, would be funded by the sale of Rice....It is the only scenario that seems to make sense.... What do you reckon?
I HOPE I'M WRONG!

Rice has become SO good, he's basically been doing the job of 2 midfielders IMO = all the way across the defensive midfield (left, right and centre)....in that, if you wanted to find a replacement, it would probably need 2 midfield players.... Yes?

IE At the end of last season, with Rice, I think we were basically able to play 4-1 (= Rice) - 4 (= Fornals, Soucek, Noble, Bowen) - 1 (= Antonio/Haller).
This allowed us to be very attack minded, and we scored pot-fulls of goals.

HOWEVER, without Rice we'd need to be, say, 4-2 (= Cullen Soucek) - 3 (= Fornals/Anderson, Noble/Lanzini, Bowen/Yarmolenko - 1 (= Haller/ Antonio)
= Far less attack minded, and could cost us at both ends: Continuing to let in goals but not scoring as many....Oooh dear; NOT good!

So Rice leaving could well turnout to be disastrous.

And, could Cullen step up to the plate now? He's been v impressive, but good enough for the Prem? As such, I do have quite high hopes for him; Cullen could turn out to be a revelation...but not likely to be as good as Rice, eh?

I also do have high hopes for Johnson. I think Johnson's woeful performance v Bournemouth was a protest at Grady going. He was impressive again v Charlton

No good crying over spilt milk, BUT I wish we'd not sold Grady, and struggled on by scoring more goals than we concede this season, and then looking to re-enforce the defence next summer. Agree? ....(Too late now of course.... Grrrrr!)

Well, what do you reckon on that little lot, folks?

[Hammertime]

In a very unpleasant moment, the horrible thought (headline above) just occurred to me.... My thinking:

£35m on just 1 player? What about the others we need - LB especially? We only got 26 odd milllion for players who have been sold, so there's a big shortfall - especially if we are to buy a LB...and reserve striker....all which, I suspect, would be funded by the sale of Rice....It is the only scenario that seems to make sense.... What do you reckon?
I HOPE I'M WRONG!

And, could Cullen step up to the plate now? He's been v impressive, but good enough for the Prem? Rice has become SO good, he's basically been doing the job of 2 midfielders IMO = left, right and centre defensive midfield....in that if you wanted to find a replacement, it would probably need 2 midfield players.... Yes?
IE At the end of last season, I think we were basically able to play 4-1 (Rice) - 4 (Fornals, Soucek, Noble, Bowen) -1 Antonio/Haller.
This allowed us to be v attack minded, and we scored pot-fulls of goals.

HOWEVER, without Rice we'd need to be, say, 4-2 (= Cullen Soucek) - 3 (= Fornals/Anderson, Noble/Lanzini, Bowen/Yarmolenko - 1 (= Haller/ Antonio)
= Far less attack minded, and could cost us at both ends: Continuing to let in goals but not scoring as many....Oooh dear; NOT good!

So Rice leaving could well turnout to be disastrous.

Nevertheless, I do have quite high hopes for Cullen - He could turn out to be a revelation...but likely to be as good as Rice, eh?

I also do have high hopes for Johnson.
I think Johnson's woeful performance v Bournemouth was a protest at Grady going. He was impressive again v Charlton

No good crying over spilt milk, BUT I wish we'd not sold Grady, and struggled on by scoring more goals than we concede this season, and then looking to re-enforce the defence next summer. Agree? ....(Too late now of course.... Grrrrr!)

Well, what do you reckon on that lot, folks?

I don't think the buying of Tarkowski means we're selling Rice. 35 mill is a lot, but I would think that there's still enough for a fb or 2 and a loan deal to boot. However if we don't address these defensive roles I think Rice will jump ship sooner than next season, which is when I expect him to go.

[OZHAMMER]

We should take whatever we can get for him.

Just not quite the standard of player West Ham need right now...

[JayK]

I've thought Rice was a gonna all summer tbh. Cullen is no substitute for Rice imo. We're gonna struggle.

[Dwayne Pipes]

Thought we were skint where’s the readies from for this jug eared inbred ?

[Newmarket]

Thought we were skint where’s the readies from for this jug eared inbred ?

Who has repeatedly said that he wants CL ( not that I consider him good enough anyway) ?

So why on Earth are we persisting in this pursuit ffs ?

When there are at least the 2 full backs needing replacing ?

Actually there’s not much in the OP that I do agree with tbh.

Inc the Rice business , his role in the team , the way we play , post-lockdown West Ham , everything.

That’s fine and that’s what forums are for but it goes to show that different people see the same game totally differently.

[h69]

In a very unpleasant moment, the horrible thought (headline above) just occurred to me.... My thinking:

£35m on just 1 player? What about the others we need - LB especially? We only got 26 odd milllion for players who have been sold, so there's a big shortfall - especially if we are to buy a LB...and reserve striker....all which, I suspect, would be funded by the sale of Rice....It is the only scenario that seems to make sense.... What do you reckon?
I HOPE I'M WRONG!

Rice has become SO good, he's basically been doing the job of 2 midfielders IMO = all the way across the defensive midfield (left, right and centre)....in that, if you wanted to find a replacement, it would probably need 2 midfield players.... Yes?

IE At the end of last season, with Rice, I think we were basically able to play 4-1 (= Rice) - 4 (= Fornals, Soucek, Noble, Bowen) - 1 (= Antonio/Haller).
This allowed us to be very attack minded, and we scored pot-fulls of goals.

HOWEVER, without Rice we'd need to be, say, 4-2 (= Cullen Soucek) - 3 (= Fornals/Anderson, Noble/Lanzini, Bowen/Yarmolenko - 1 (= Haller/ Antonio)
= Far less attack minded, and could cost us at both ends: Continuing to let in goals but not scoring as many....Oooh dear; NOT good!

So Rice leaving could well turnout to be disastrous.

And, could Cullen step up to the plate now? He's been v impressive, but good enough for the Prem? As such, I do have quite high hopes for him; Cullen could turn out to be a revelation...but not likely to be as good as Rice, eh?

I also do have high hopes for Johnson. I think Johnson's woeful performance v Bournemouth was a protest at Grady going. He was impressive again v Charlton

No good crying over spilt milk, BUT I wish we'd not sold Grady, and struggled on by scoring more goals than we concede this season, and then looking to re-enforce the defence next summer. Agree? ....(Too late now of course.... Grrrrr!)

Well, what do you reckon on that little lot, folks?

Rice will leave one day either this summer or in one of the next two windows. It will always happen to players like him. Players like that leave Leicester to go to top 4 clubs so its not like we are any different.

We may or may not sell Rice but the above has absolutely no bearing on whether we do. As for him being SO good. He is a good player yes but I believe we hype him up because he is at our club and shines in that MF. I believe Chelsea are not convinced he is worth £80m. I think he probably is but mainly because of the English tax that seems to be on players.

You mention £35m on one player. That is not a huge amount for an English capped player. There is always a premium on players who are English and I just think Moyes wants the player.

As for Johnson playing badly v Bournemouth as a protest ? Thats laughable conspiracy theory. Its more likely that he is a young player and will have good and bad games.

Grady Diangana may turn out to be a good player or a poor one....time will tell. My guess is he will be like Stanislas and be an average PL player. I wouldn't have sold him but I wont lose sleep over it.

As for Cullen....too early to tell but a different type of player in my opinion.

[Brookbonds73]

35 million!
These cunts won't part with 35 quid ffs!
The whole things a pile of bollocks to keep the fans interested.
And anyway if by some remote chance the parasites were going in for the polish/Englander, it's fucking clear he doesn't want to come here to this circus and who can blame him.
We'd have him for three months, his game would disentegrate and he'd up being sold for 5 mil at Christmas

[Whiskyman]

Good question, but imo Rice was always going to be off this window. Being brutal Rice has outgrown West Ham. He is an international class footballer who deserves to be playing for an honours chasing side, not producing quality performances most weeks in a struggling side.

I think this relentless pursuit of Tarkowski, a player who has, apparently, previously said he wants to be playing CL football, demonstrates one thing, and one thing only. Sheer panic. Does Moyes really think £35 million represents a good value acquisition for a club, allegedly, without the proverbial pot to piss in? Chelsea reportedly shelled out £45 million for Chilwell, a player 4 years younger than Tarkowski and, probably, with his best years yet to come and who, should he subsequently move on, will have significant transfer value. Tarkowski, who is 28 soon has almost certainly peaked and will only depreciate in value.

A totally laughable signing if it materialises. Not one to transform a club which narrowly avoided relegation last season into one which will nestle comfortably in mid table Burnley style. And what does it say about Tarkowski himself ? A player who thinks, misguidedly imo, he is good enough to play in the CL suddenly decides he is West Ham bound.

Burnley must be rubbing their hands together.

[Clayton]

In a very unpleasant moment, the horrible thought (headline above) just occurred to me.... My thinking:

£35m on just 1 player? What about the others we need - LB especially? We only got 26 odd milllion for players who have been sold, so there's a big shortfall - especially if we are to buy a LB...and reserve striker....all which, I suspect, would be funded by the sale of Rice....It is the only scenario that seems to make sense.... What do you reckon?
I HOPE I'M WRONG!

Rice has become SO good, he's basically been doing the job of 2 midfielders IMO = all the way across the defensive midfield (left, right and centre)....in that, if you wanted to find a replacement, it would probably need 2 midfield players.... Yes?

IE At the end of last season, with Rice, I think we were basically able to play 4-1 (= Rice) - 4 (= Fornals, Soucek, Noble, Bowen) - 1 (= Antonio/Haller).
This allowed us to be very attack minded, and we scored pot-fulls of goals.

HOWEVER, without Rice we'd need to be, say, 4-2 (= Cullen Soucek) - 3 (= Fornals/Anderson, Noble/Lanzini, Bowen/Yarmolenko - 1 (= Haller/ Antonio)
= Far less attack minded, and could cost us at both ends: Continuing to let in goals but not scoring as many....Oooh dear; NOT good!

So Rice leaving could well turnout to be disastrous.

And, could Cullen step up to the plate now? He's been v impressive, but good enough for the Prem? As such, I do have quite high hopes for him; Cullen could turn out to be a revelation...but not likely to be as good as Rice, eh?

I also do have high hopes for Johnson. I think Johnson's woeful performance v Bournemouth was a protest at Grady going. He was impressive again v Charlton

No good crying over spilt milk, BUT I wish we'd not sold Grady, and struggled on by scoring more goals than we concede this season, and then looking to re-enforce the defence next summer. Agree? ....(Too late now of course.... Grrrrr!)

Well, what do you reckon on that little lot, folks?

Do not think the formation , selection or tactics by Moyes end of last season made the difference , personally I put it down to blind luck and the players pulling their finger out .
Do not agree Rice has been doing the work of two midfielders not recently anyway , more him and Soucek are doing the work of three midfielders and maybe a fullback or two at times .
Prior so us getting Souceck he definitely was . I will say though that both are put under enormous pressure due to having Noble in front of them of late and poor fullbacks behind and having no creativity in the middle .