You are here

Hammers Dodge One As Pellegrini Confirms No Interest In Yaya

nevillenixon's picture
Submitted by nevillenixon on Fri, 14/12/2018 - 12:38

Having been taught a painful lesson with regards their recruitment due to 'Wheelgate', it is only natural that Manuel Pelegrini and Mario Husillos are recalcitrant when discussing possible new arrivals at the club. However Pellegrini was at pains to confirm Hammers LACK of interest in signing Yaya Toure, Toure was a pivotal member of Pellegrini’s title winning Manchester City side and is a free agent after leaving Olympiakos by mutual agreement on Tuesday after only three months and just five appearances.

Pellegrini said: “I spoke with Yaya, yes, at the beginning of the season. I have always said he is a great player but I don’t know what happened with him in Greece. At this moment we are just thinking about the next game, I don’t want to talk until the end of December about which players we are going to need in the window, it is not a priority because we already have players in that position.”

Signing old past it players looking for a final pay day was a bit of a trait at West Ham United for ages, the need to 'bulk up' the squad, literally in the case of Benni Mccarthy, meant numbers not quality were the order of the day. The massive influx of television money has changed all that, not just for West Ham but also a host of other Premier League clubs who are now able to match bids from what were the 'elite' clubs in the League who had all the spending power. This of course doesn't mean that anyone can compete with Manchester City or their lower placed rivals Manchester United or indeed Chelsea and Arsenal, but the gulf that once existed is now far narrower than it used to be.

'Big clubs'are invariably charged more for players than those who are not as well known or well resourced, the premium is as much as double in certain situations. An old United fan who is a friend of this site, whilst lamenting the 'miserable one's' effect on his club, repeatedly mentioned how much over the odds Manchester United paid for their star players and that if they had been purchased by West Ham for example the premium would have been halved. Hence Marko Arnoutovic to United stories always begin with a £50 Million price tag for a player who cost less than half that, similarly Issa Diop would have cost much more than the £22 Million West Ham paid for him and heaven knows what Felipe Anderson's price would have been.

For the time being West Ham can enjoy the situation, however clubs are now taking note of what Pellegrini and Husillos are putting together at the London Stadium, so expect quoted prices for players to rise commensurately with success attained on the pitch. The most important fact is that the club is no longer a small club, and whether universally liked or not, the move to the London Stadium from the Boleyn Ground has massively upped West Ham United's profile both domestically and abroad.

The only thing that will stop players wanting to come to the club from abroad in the future will be Brexit and what it is doing to the value of the pound! - Ed

Share

Comments

Next Fixture(s)