Silly Season Summer 2012

Campo wrote:looks like the Jarvis deal is dead .. he wants far too much wonga

The Hammers have been one of the most active clubs in the transfer market since securing promotion back to the Premier League via the play-offs. The likes of Alou Diarra, Modibo Maiga and Mohamed Diame have arrived this summer but Allardyce wants more, including Wolves winger Jarvis.

West Ham have yet to agree a fee for the England international, with reports suggesting the asking price is £10million. "It is stuck - that's the answer," Allardyce said, speaking ahead of the season opener against Aston Villa. "I don't know how that will pan out now. I think that we'll just have to wait and see.

"For me, it is on the backburner because Saturday is the most important thing for me and then if it is to be done after Saturday we'll see where we are. "We have got to try to agree something with Wolverhampton Wanderers. "That is the issue we have at the moment, before we get into what the player wants or doesn't want."

While Allardyce hopes to push through a deal for Jarvis, it appears a move for Liverpool's Andy Carroll is dead in the water.

West Ham made an audacious bid to prise the £35million striker from Anfield but were thwarted.
"We never agreed with Liverpool any deal to be able to speak to Andy Carroll to see if he would join us," Allardyce said. "Whatever deal we put forward to Liverpool was not agreed to by Liverpool.
"He would have been a massive signing for us and, like everything else, when you see an opportunity you try to go for it. "Then you get onto negotiations and once that is exhausted you move on, which was a lot sooner than people actually talked about in the media. "The negotiations were over in a couple of weeks or so regarding whether Andy was or wasn't going to come to West Ham."

Allardyce has made no secret of his desire to add more faces this month, but for now he is only interested in getting a good result against Villa. "I think there is a lot of excitement around the place, obviously because we're getting closer and closer to kick-off," he said. "I think we have prepared pretty well, I think the only slow process, as always, is (bringing) players in. That has been the only slow process.

"We have been working extremely hard at it, but to be able to complete the signings has been very difficult indeed. "We are pleased with the players we have brought in, but we're still waiting to bring a few more in before the end of the window."

One of the additions, James Collins, came from Saturday's opponents Villa and is fit to face his former club after a groin injury. However, Collins' fellow Wales international Jack Collison continues to struggle with a knee injury. "James Collins will train tomorrow fully with us and Jack Collison still hasn't trained with the first-team squad since the play-off final," Allardyce said.

"James Collins is okay, but Jack Collison is a big concern to me having come through the summer right up without really joining in any form of training. We would have expected that by now, which is a great shame. "It is his knee - the one he had operated on two or three years ago.

"We probably played him too much towards to the end of the season and he gave that little more effort and it aggravated the injury. "It has been a great shame for him that he has not been able to come in with the rest of the squad and feel the excitement we are feeling towards the start of the new season."