Lauren Off To The Hammers?

Murmurs about Lauren possibly leaving the club over the past few weeks have now been replaced by something concrete. Sky Sports have confirmed that West Ham are in talks with Ralph.

I thought that Lauren's contract ran for longer, but apparently it seems to be expiring this summer. Lauren hasn't played in over a year, and there were fears that his career was well and truly over, but he has managed to rehabilitate himself. His ommissions from the FA Cup and Carling Cup squads potentially have more to them than just selection issues. The Mirror have already done their tabloidy bit by suggesting that Lauren walked out of training after being told that he would not be in the Carling Cup squad. Of course since Arsenal fan Piers Morgan left the Mirror, they have gone completely in the opposite direction regarding all issues concerning the club.

I first heard of the Lauren rumours a few weeks ago when there was speculation linking us with Nigel Reo-Coker, who has been sulking and looking like he just can't be bothered at West Ham. The suggestions were that West Ham had signed Arsenal old boy Luis Boa Morte from Fulham to take his place, and that Lauren was being offered on loan for the rest of the season as a sweetener for signing Reo-Coker, who was sulking over allegedly being denied a move to Arsenal in the summertime. Anyhow, Arsene Wenger kept insisting as usual that he would not sign anyone in the transfer window (to be taken with a pinch of salt because Arsene said this in 2003/2004 and signed Reyes, and then said this last year and signed Diaby and Adebayor). So the Lauren loan rumours changed to rumours of a 3.5 million transfer.

It's difficult to really guage what's going on. There has been a lot of speculation regarding Freddie, and the boss has come out and said that he thinks he still has a lot to offer. However, nothing similar has been done for Lauren (although the increased fervency of the rumours has only been recent).

It's bittersweet really. We currently have Eboue, Hoyte and the wonderfully athletic and gifted young Kerrea Gilbert (on loan at Cardiff). However, Eboue is a drama queen of the worst order, and actually seems to be degressing with each passing game. Hoyte, although solid, still looks like he only really has the makings of a squad player, and Gilbert is too young. Lauren as we all know is tough as nails, very experienced, and very solid, and really instills character into the side. I'm horrified by the thought of Eboue being first-choice right-back all on his own, and I think Lauren still has a lot to offer, but it's a difficult situation with so much upcoming quality. It's probably a similar situation to the one that materialised with Vieira leaving, mainly because Cesc was waiting in the wings. It's sad for Lauren because he is one player who has always expressed his commitment to the club, and fought very hard for a 2 year contract last time around, when we only wanted to offer him a 1 year deal. That was around the time that Arsene Wenger tried to sign Hatem Trabelsi from Ajax, and really those should have been indications. Concerns over Trabelsi's fitness scrapped the deal (well-founded concerns given his long injury absence afterwards), and Lauren remained first-choice, with Eboue arriving in the winter transfer window. Now had we signed Trabelsi, I wouldn't have minded seeing Lauren go, because Trabelsi was an absolutely top-class right back at the time, who had received a terrific football education at Ajax.

But Eboue? I liked him a lot, and supported him for his first two years, but his behaviour this season has been disgraceful. There is no place for that sort of thing at a club like Arsenal, and furthermore he seems to have given up trying to read the game and improve his positioning. He is always allowing his man to find space behind him, and relies too heavily on his pace and recovery tackles. He is a definitey worry, and although I think he's definitely got the potential to be world class, he still needs competition and an experienced right-back in front of him to fight with and learn from. Hoyte as the backup doesn't really seem like competition - he is solid, but uninspiring, and Gilbert is just 18 and quite unproven still.

Let's see what happens. I hope Lauren stays, but with the boss having said last month that there will be departures in the transfer window, I wouldn't be surprised to see him go. If that's the case, then good luck Ralph, and thanks for all the brilliant memories. You are a legend.