West Ham Transfer News: Hammers Play Down Stewart Downing Talk

by Joseph Dempsey

Team Talk. Reports earlier this week suggested the Hammers were preparing an offer for the England midfielder, but despite the club's assistant boss Neil McDonald admitting he rates the 28-year-old highly, these claims appear wide of the mark. Since swapping Aston Villa for Anfield in a £20 million move two years ago, Downing has struggled to hold down a place under the reigns of Liverpool's previous two managers, Kenny Dalglish and Brendan Rodgers. The wide man made just 25 Premier League starts last season along with four substitute appearances, scoring just three goals and providing five assists. Hammers manager Sam Allardyce is in the market for a new winger as he seeks to improve the service to the club's record signing Andy Carroll, who has joined the Upton Park outfit permanently following last season's loan spell from Liverpool. But although Allardyce's right-hand man McDonald hopes to see Downing join his former teammate in London next season, he claims the reports at present are just down to what he called "paper talk". He explained to talkSPORT:

"He's a very good player. A player of that calibre and West Ham being involved would be great, but it's all paper talk at the moment."
Meanwhile, West Ham have agreed a fee with Argentine side Estudiantes over the signing of Duvan Zapata, 22.

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Joseph is an accredited football journalist and has interviewed nearly all of the current 20 Barclay's Premier League managers. He is also a correspondent for Bleacher Report and has written for Caught Offside and Give Me Football.