WEST HAM AGREE DEAL FOR KEIBER LAMADRID AS JANUARY TRANSFER WINDOW EXPLODES
With Crysencio Summerville back in the goals, West Ham pivots from Schjelderup to land Adama Traore and Keiber Lamadrid.
With Jarrod Bowen and El Hadji Malick Diouf already sealing their spots, West Ham United should have at least two players at the 2026 World Cup.
Aaron Wan-Bissaka looks set to join them if DR Congo can get past Jamaica or New Caledonia in March’s play-offs. There’s still a good chance Mateus Fernandes sneaks into the Portugal squad—Roberto Martinez likes what he sees in the ex-Southampton midfielder. Tomas Soucek, Callum Marshall, and Mads Hermansen are all in the mix, too.
The same goes for Crysencio Summerville.
Suriname are hoping Summerville, born in the Netherlands, pulls a Wan-Bissaka and switches his international allegiance. His recent form for West Ham—two goals in two games after a long dry spell—has only made coach Henk ten Cate more determined to win him over. Summerville’s resurgence might even impact another winger with uncertain World Cup plans: Andreas Schjelderup, the young Norwegian at Benfica.
Norway boss Stale Solbakken would love to see Schjelderup join West Ham. According to Gianluca Di Marzio, the club spoke with him earlier in January. Schjelderup hasn’t had much luck getting minutes under Mourinho at Benfica, and Solbakken wants that to change fast.
“Schjelderup also has to change clubs,” Solbakken told NRK. “He’s in a tough spot, so I expect they’ll sort it out soon. Things aren’t great for him at Benfica.”
Those West Ham rumours about Schjelderup surfaced before Summerville finally ended his 14-month goal drought against QPR in the FA Cup. Summerville was brilliant in the win over Tottenham on Saturday, even if Nuno Espirito Santo still wants more from his £30 million signing.
Since Summerville’s return to form, talk around Schjelderup and West Ham has gone quiet. Parma in Serie A are now being mentioned as Schjelderup’s likely destination.
Meanwhile, Oscar Bobb—another of Solbakken’s attacking options—is expected to leave Manchester City for Fulham in a £35 million move. That might clear the way for Adama Traore to leave Fulham, and West Ham are definitely still interested. Talks between those clubs are ongoing.
West Ham are also set to bring in Keiber Lamadrid from Deportivo La Guaira, another left winger like Summerville and Schjelderup. Lamadrid will likely start with the Under-21s.
“With Schjelderup and Bobb, it’s obvious they need a good talk with their clubs,” Solbakken said. His forward line is already stacked: Erling Haaland, Alexander Sorloth, Jorgen Strand-Larsen, and Antonio Nusa.
“We have a good relationship with City and trust what they tell Bobb. I’m confident he and Pep Guardiola will sort things out.”
West Ham did ask about Wolves’ target man Strand-Larsen right after New Year’s, but that was before they signed Taty Castellanos and Pablo Felipe for a combined £44 million—apparently less than Wolves wanted for Strand-Larsen.
Former technical director Tim Steidten even tried to bring RB Leipzig’s Antonio Nusa to London.
“I’m going with Antonio Nusa,” Steidten told Sky Germany recently. “Honestly, I really wanted to bring him to West Ham.
“When he’s fit, his potential is huge. He’s an outstanding player.”
AWONIYI DOUBLE LEAVES NOTTINGHAM FOREST ON THE VERGE OF PREMIER LEAGUE SAFETY
Nottingham Forest moved closer to safety with a 3-1 win over Chelsea, while West Ham fell into the relegation zone after Spurs won.
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Nottingham Forest came out of the weekend looking pretty safe after pulling off an impressive 3-1 win at Chelsea. They’re almost clear of the relegation mess. Tottenham’s big away win at Aston Villa shook things up too, and now West Ham are back in the bottom three, running out of time faster than ever.
Forest have stepped up just when they needed to, leaving West Ham and Tottenham behind with a string of solid performances. Honestly, no one saw this coming, especially since Vitor Pereira shuffled his lineup with eight changes, fresh off a Europa League win against Aston Villa.
Even so, Forest were ahead within 90 seconds, thanks to Taiwo Awoniyi’s quick strike. By the 15th minute, Igor Jesus calmly buried a penalty after Malo Gusto’s reckless foul in the box. Chelsea had a chance to get back in it, but Cole Palmer wasted a penalty right before the break after a scary head collision involving Jesse Derry.
Awoniyi doubled down and scored again early in the second half, pushing Forest six points ahead of West Ham with just three games left.
West Ham’s weekend started badly; they looked flat and lost to Brentford. Things got worse Sunday night when Tottenham pulled off their first back-to-back Premier League wins since August 2025, beating a heavily rotated Aston Villa side 2-1.
Forest is now out of West Ham’s reach, or almost. Tottenham’s still close enough for Nuno Espirito Santo’s team to worry, but with three tough games coming up, Spurs could stay up even without another win, unless West Ham digs deep and pulls off something unexpected before their home finale against Leeds.
Right now, Forest can practically taste safety. Spurs finally see a way out after weeks of struggle. As for West Ham, they’re left hoping for a miracle, a last-minute twist to dodge the drop.
CESC FABREGAS CONFIRMS INTEREST IN PREMIER LEAGUE RETURN AMID CHELSEA'S MANAGER SEARCH
As Chelsea searches for a new manager, Cesc Fabregas breaks his silence on his future at Como and his Premier League ambitions.
Cesc Fabregas recalls exactly how a conversation with Jose Mourinho prompted him to join Chelsea, despite having the opportunity to return to Arsenal.
After winning six trophies in just three seasons, the Spanish World Cup winner left Barcelona for the second time in 2014. That summer, Fabregas made a move back to the Premier League, signing with Chelsea for about €33 million.
He already knew English football well. Fabregas had arrived at Arsenal as a 16-year-old from Barcelona in 2003 and made 212 Premier League appearances for them. When he decided to leave Barcelona, Manchester City also wanted him, but Chelsea convinced him, mostly thanks to Mourinho.
Talking with talkSPORT’s Rory Jennings on YouTube, Fabregas laid out how it all happened. “Honestly, when I made up my mind to leave Barcelona, my first thought was just to go back to Arsenal. They had this buyback clause; they had two weeks to use it after I told them I was leaving. They knew about it but didn’t take it. That surprised me a little, but in the end, I had to think about my career. I was 27, at the peak of my career, and I wanted to continue performing and winning trophies. City and Chelsea were both options.
“But when Mourinho spoke to me, that was it. He showed me his plans for the team and told me about Diego Costa, Courtois, and Filipe Luis and how, with those guys, we’d win the league. He was right, by the way. We won both the Premier League and the Carling Cup.”
Fabregas wasted no time winning over Chelsea fans. On his debut at Burnley, he set up two goals, including a stunning assist for Andre Schurrle. He finished his first season at Chelsea with five goals and 24 assists, along with Premier League and League Cup medals.
Things dipped the next season. Fabregas got just 15 goal contributions, and Chelsea slipped all the way to tenth. But when Antonio Conte took charge in 2016-17, they bounced back, and Fabregas picked up another league title.
He added an FA Cup win in 2018, his second, after his earlier one with Arsenal, and left for Monaco a few months later. His last Chelsea match came in the FA Cup against Nottingham Forest. When he got subbed off, he couldn’t hold back tears.
Chelsea supporters still sing about him; that “Oh, Fabregas is magic...” chant sticks around. And with his name in the conversation for a possible return, maybe they haven’t seen the last of him yet.
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