Funny how, I think, the manority of us would rather have kept William and sold Adrien. Only to have to deal with the William rumours all month with pretty well no talk of Adrien. Then on the last day of transfer window (last minute really) Adrien be sold (likely) and William remain. Assuming Adrien deal is valued right, I think we all got what we would've preferred, and out of nowhere
TBH I'm ambivalent on each I would rather see still in the team, I would rather have both stay, but if a choice has to be done then ? ? ?. Adrien is the captain, and if he's leaving, then , will William take the cap's band and be the on-field leader ?
I think so, JJ doesn't like Patricio as captain so it would be William next. It could also be a way to please him after not getting sold. Frankly if he has a stellar season this year and a good World Cup he can leave next year to a big team.
Not to take anything away from Adrien but I feel like you've got options on this team for captaincy. Obviously William who has been co-captain along with Patricio. If a field player is preferred over Rui then I think there's a few leaders on the field. Coates and Dost for example, I feel would be good options. They're staples at their positions, good players, and always seem to be around teammates after goals and after games and such. I think they're good locker room guys. Dost may be tough because the language factor but I think he's got it in him.
Yes personally I would give it to Coates, he seems like a leader in the dressing room. But William will get the armband, even if its just to please him after not being sold
I hope he has his head/heart is with the team.....if he plays at 75% he is no good to us on the pitch 27 is the correct age we should be selling players at.....We get a few seasons of class play out of them before we cash in. It is a pity some players force their way out at a much younger age
Thats the difference here and another reason why I hope Adrien does in fact get his move. He has a tendency to go to the press when things don't go his way. Last year he had an interview with O Jogo saying he wanted to leave. A few years ago he threatened to go to Porto before signing a new contract making him one of the highest paid players. So far there's been lots of news saying "William is frustrated" "William wants to leave" but the player has remained silent and professional through all of this. I'm not doubting Adrien's ability on the pitch; but off the pitch there have been a few problems.
27 seems a little old to sell players for a club like Sporting. I think Joao Mario was the best handled sale this club has ever conducted
Agree with this 100%, I don't buy into the William will be a distraction narrative the press is pushing because I've seen no evidence of it. And furthermore that's always their narrative when it comes to Sporting. They have to portray us like some B league joke of an organization that everyone can't wait to leave where Benfica is top rate and nobody wants to leave. Case in point is this Mitrouglou headline floating around. "Why did Benfica let me go? I will have to ask them" is the headline, but thy omit the fact that literally his next words were "I wanted to leave". If it was Adrien giving the same interview "I wanted to leave" would be the headline. I don't believe William will be a problem. He gets his €5M bonus, wallet gets fatter, plays in champions league against Barcelona and Juventus, could make a run in Europa and has a shot at a Portuguese title this season. It's not bad for him that he's here rather than fighting off relegation at West Ham. Good year and a bonus could mean better things next summer.
Tbh I can understand William being a little frustrated. I would he too. How many times has he heard that exact argument before now? Play well in the champions league, fight for the league, impress in the world cup, blah blah. I'm sure he's sick of it by now.
But that's just speculation based on how you would feel. Not everyone is the same. I wouldn't be frustrated at all to be receiving an extra 5M this year to play for Sporting with the chance of showcasing for better horizons. I could understand the frustration if it was a top table team in the EPL, or if Sporting was in the dumps. I just don't think we should buy into him being a locker room issue based on speculation, until there's something concrete that proves an issue I don't think we need to preoccupy ourselves with something that may or may not be there.
Just to reiterate - the 5M bonus is only if a club offers 35M up front (no bonuses, no fees spread out over years, it has to be 35M lump sum in full) and we rejected it. So far there's been no indication that West Ham reached that much or that Monaco made any bid.
Exactly. The Portuguese media are the biggest SLB-dick-riders in the country, outside Liga officials of course. They publish a story saying Gabigol didn't go to SCP because he "wanted to be part of the biggest team in Portugal." Bunch of horseshit really. The dude is a proven flop and a massive downgrade from Mitroglou. I am a bit concerned about William, however. Reports we rejected $36 million + $5 in bonuses is a bit of a head-scratcher. Just take the money and let him double his salary. We can't have an unhappy member of the team, especially one who has been nothing but professional in his time here. I can understand William's alleged frustration.
I'm pretty certain he is frustrating that he didn't get to leave. I'm also pretty certain that he is a professional and will carry on doing his job.
Yes he hasn't come out in any interviews saying he wants to leave like Adrien has. Sure he might be frustrated for a few days but he'll stay professional - he also has 6 champions league games against quality teams, if he performs well like Gelson did last year vs. Real and a good World Cup he can get a move to a much better team than West Ham
Hmmmmm this could get interesting .....BDC says we received no offers for Willy only inquiries ....and now west hams co-president says SCP accepted their record offer for Carvalho on the final day of the market, but it was to late for west ham to do their medical exams so they passes .... Someone is lying
Haha right? But what's he supposed to say? We all know the media will take any chance they can get to shit on SCP and BDC so of course they had to ask him those questions and he had no choice. Why didn't West Ham submit a bid earlier in the summer?
Apparently they did and it was rejected. Then Sporting accepting the same amount at the end of the window, but west ham wanted a medical before spending that much money That does explain why the Adrien transfer was so last second.
I think the hold up on his transfer was more on Leicester part then ours .... they wanted their sale to Chelsea to go through before buying Silva ....