We simulated a Danny Dyer takeover of West Ham United - these are the players he signed
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Celebrity investments in football clubs have become commonplace in recent years and there have been a number of high profile successes in recent seasons.
There was the Class of 92-inspired rise at Salford City, Tom Brady unexpectedly turning up at Birmingham City and Hollywood duo Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney helping Wrexham end their lengthy stay in the National League and land consecutive promotions into League One. Even Snoop Dogg has been tipped to get in on the act, with reports suggesting he’s ready to plough some fat stacks of dosh straight into Scottish Premiership serial winner Celtic.
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Hide AdSo that got us thinking here at 3 Added Minutes, what other celebrities could invest in their beloved clubs and what impact would they make. So next up, we take a look at actor Danny Dyer as he (virtually) takes his lifelong love of West Ham United to another level by investing in his beloved Hammers.
How would an injection of cash from Danny and his appointment as chairman of the Hammers pan out? We fired up Football Manager 2024, utilised the editor to update the West Ham squad to its present form and allowed the 2024/25 season to play out before introducing Danny and his investment. We simulated the first summer transfer window of his ownership and this is how it played out.
Who would be allowed to leave West Ham during the summer?
There were a whole host of major contract decisions to be made by Lopetegui as he prepared for his second season in charge and his first under his new chairman. Firstly, loan signings Jean-Clair Todibo and Carlos Solar both returned to their parent clubs after their season-long spells with the Hammers came to a close.
There were several players that were allowed to depart at the end of their own contracts as Kurt Zouma, Lukasz Fabianski, Michail Antonio and Danny Ings were all allowed to move on. The only other outgoing was a significant one as Lucas Paqueta returned to France after the Hammers accepted a £78m offer for the Brazil star from Paris Saint-Germain.
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Hide AdWho was brought into the West Ham squad during the summer?
Firstly, Aaron Cresswell and Vladimir Coufal were both handed new one-year deals and Nayef Aguerd, James Ward-Prowse and Maxwel Cornet were all reintroduced to the Hammers squad after spending the season on loan elsewhere. Significantly, Jarrod Bowen and Mohammed Kudus put pen-to-paper on new long-term deals and ended speculation about possible moves away from the London Stadium. The £78m fee received from the sale of Paqueta was the sum total of the transfer funds handed to Lopetegui and he tried to stretch that out by securing the signings of free agents Inigo Martinez, Alvaro Fernandez and Lucas Vasquez after they left Barcelona, Sevilla and Real Madrid respectively.
Lopetegui agreed a season-long loan deal for Manchester United winger Amad Traore and secured the services of Paris Saint-Germain forward Kang-in Lee in a similar deal. With loan fees taken out of his available funds, Lopetegui spent the remaining £70m on two deals with £45m going to Manchester City to land midfielder Matheus Nunes and the remaining £25m securing a deal for Tottenham Hotspur’s Yves Bissouma.
And there we have it - Danny Dyer’s first transfer window at the helm of West Ham. Let’s face it, this won’t be happening any time soon, but there’s no denying the Mean Machine star running the show at the London Stadium would be an absolute treat. Get your hand in your wallet then, Danny.
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