West Ham sources suggest a triangle transfer involving Southampton and the Hammers.
With the transfer market starting in just over two weeks, the gossip mill will begin to spin, and reports from East London say three players might be moving between the two clubs.
West Ham United fansite According to Hammers News, West Ham need to get players off the books not only to produce transfer money, but also to free up funds for wages.
They claim that their inside source at West Ham has informed them that Saints are interested in bringing right back Ben Johnson to the South Coast, with Mason Holgate likely to return to Everton in January.
Johnson, who is out of contract in the summer of 2024, could be available for a cheap fee.
However, according to Hammers News, West Ham could look to make the Johnson deal part of a move in the opposite direction for Kyle Walker Peters. They get this rumour slightly wrong, saying that this could be a cut price deal for the Hammers because KWP’s contract with Saints expires in July 2025, which is not quite correct, as Southampton do have breathing space until the summer.
However, this isn’t the end of the transfer saga; Danny Ings is expected to return to St Mary’s, according to West Ham insiders.
Ings is unpopular at the club and has played only 130 minutes of Premier League football this season. Although West Ham would like to recoup some of the £12 million they paid for Ings, they will be more interested in getting his high wages off the books. Ings’ contract expires in 2025, so West Ham will be looking to persuade Saints to bring Ings back to St Mary’s.
The stumbling blocks in this being a triple deal though, is that Southampton are in no hurry to let Walker Peters go, he is a key player in the push for promotion and as the front runner for player of the season could well be the difference in going up and staying down.
That being the case keeping him and regaining the Premier League riches is not a big gamble, his value in January will not be much more than it will be in the summer should we not achieve promotion and need to sell him.
Danny Ings salary could be an issue in leaving West Ham, his is said to be on something around £120k a week , he is not going to give that up in a hurry, there will have to be a lot of give and take from both sides and the player, I would suggest that Ings will not go anywhere on a permanent deal, turning 31 in the summer and with his track record since leaving St Mary’s in August 2021 seeing him score just 15 goals in 2 1/2 seasons, his earning power is under half of his current wage, if that.
So I would say that Saints could well be interested in Ben Johnson, but not at the expense of losing Kyle Walker Peters in this window, Danny Ings could be of interest as well, but not on a permanent move, taking him on loan though could be an option that appeals.
