So, it’s December and the nation is gripped with Christmas fever. For football fans however, something just as important is coming… The January transfer window.
Just like every other fan this is the time of year that outrageous rumours are thrown around, some with some substance to them and some that are simply the tabloids trying to sell some extra papers. The latest one you may have heard regarding our beloved Hammers…Nicolas Anelka joining us on loan for the rest of the season.
In all fairness this isn’t too farfetched…
Chelsea themselves have transfer listed Anelka and AVB has made it clear that he is no longer in his plans, his contract expires at the end of the season and Nicolas has previously worked under Big Sam after £8 Million was shelled out to take him from Fenerbahce to Bolton in 2006. In 2008 after joining Chelsea, Anelka stated that he was “grateful to Sam Allardyce” and that he “had a good relationship with him”.
Let’s be honest the thought of Anelka pulling on a West Ham shirt and tearing up the Championship for us is enough to leave any West Ham fan drooling. Despite the fact that he seems to have been around forever he is still only 32 and clearly still has the talent to be an asset for most if not all teams in the Premiership, let alone the Championship. If Sam was able to persuade him to drop a division short term would Anelka turn down one more crack at the Premier League? Under a manager that he has a ‘good relationship’ with? I personally don’t think so.
That however, is providing we’re promoted. And I think Saturday showed us that no result is nailed on and neither is promotion…
So what if he signed on loan… He’d be used to the system (the 4-3-3). But where would he slot in? Matt Taylor (despite the knocks he’s picked up recently) is a key player for us and we look miles better off with his left foot on the pitch. Faubert (who’s making the other side his own) has understandably, had his critics. He has done what not all players have the bottle to do and has knuckled down and silenced them showing passion, hard work and genuine love for West Ham, isn’t that we all want to see from the players that pull on that claret and blue shirt?
Bringing Anelka in and thus replacing one of the two of them would in one case not improve us and in another knock a players confidence that it has taken months and months to build. Carlton Cole is another player that is really hitting stride, he is also a confidence player who be even be unsettled by Anelka’s arrival. Not to mention the fact that has shown real commitment to the cause which I think… should be rewarded.
Big Sam has already stated that he hopes to ‘get a couple players in January’. I just think that with the interest from Chinese Super League club Shanghai Shenhua and the fact that a whole host of European clubs will be sniffing around to sign him on a pre – contract agreement in January, Big Sam won’t even get the opportunity to contemplate where Anelka would fit in our claret and blue’s jigsaw.
Looking for experience? Just want to be heard outside of the Boleyn? We are currently looking for writers, drop us an email at foreverwestham@snack-media.com for more details.
Imagine getting PAID for reading about the Hammers, sounds impossible doesn’t it? Sign up now and make a dream, a reality http://bit.ly/ffc-foreverwestham
