For much of the season, West Ham United and Sam Allardyce have had to play Joey O’Brien in his unnatural position of left back. Poor old Joey has been there for pretty much the whole season, despite some cameo performances from Dan Potts and George McCartney.
We have been linked with a number of left full backs over the last 6 months: Maynor Figueroa at Wigan, Martin Olsson at Blackburn Rovers and Henri Bedimo from Montpellier. A new left back would be a welcome addition in order to balance out the team, add some quality to that side, and also offer some support to Matt Jarvis down the left. All three are very capable players, and I imagine this is the level of player that we will be linked with over the summer. Rumour had it during January that West Ham had agreed a deal to sign Figueroa on a free transfer, but this seems to have gone quiet. It was suggested that we had bid quite high for Olsson too, but the Blackburn board turned it down, demanding £6m for him – a price that the Chairmen were not willing to pay.
But I’m going to focus on the third player linked, Henri Bedimo. Bedimo is a 28 year old left back, who is currently playing for French club, Montpellier. He plays his international football for Cameroon, and has made 23 appearances for them. Bedimo arrived in France in 2002, playing for Grenoble, and in an 11-year stint in Ligue 1, he has also played for Toulouse, Le Havre, Chateauroux and Lens. Following Montpellier’s recent Championship winning season, Bedimo was named in the team of the year for the French league.
He doesn’t appear to stay too long at a club, so does this suggest that if he did join the Hammers, that he would be using us as a stepping-stone? He was quoted in the Daily Express as saying “I have heard of the interest of clubs in the Premier League, but when you hear there is interest from a Champions League club in France, then you have to think about it. Newcastle and West Ham are both good clubs in the best league in the world, but I will not decide my future until the end of the season. I want to be playing in the Champions League as well”.
Who can blame Bedimo for wanting Champions League footy – after all, he has tasted it with Montpellier now. However, I’m not sure he will get it next season as Arsenal have recently signed Monreal and have Kieron Gibbs, Man Utd have Evra and Buttner, Man City have Kolarov and Clichy while Chelsea have Cole and Bertrand. So I can’t see him getting his wish in England. So what does he choose? Newcastle seem to have signed up half the French league in recent months. The Daily Mail suggested that we bid £1.75m in the January Transfer Window, but this was rejected by the French outfit.
I’m not too sure about these French players – Ilunga, Faubert, Maiga and Diarra all come from Ligue 1 and have hardly set the world alight have they! Granted Maiga and Diarra have not really been given a chance, but still, if they were that good, they would have been played.
Personally, I would rather stick with a player who has Premier League experience. But who would you choose?
By Chelmo Hammer
Follow me on Twitter: @ChelmoHammer
It’ll be Rat.
I wonder if BFS has ever checked out Young Marcus Alonso at his old club Bolton,he would be Sam´s type 6´2 the right price and reasonably aggressive.
Just thinking of teams on the way down, I like the look of QPR’s Traore, has pace can get back as well as forward. Only thing to question is how loyal is he, not sure any of the QPR team can be noted for trying hard the whole season. I also like the look of Fabio, and if we are talking British then maybe Ben Davies of Swansea. Although I really would like to see Potts take that LB berth week in week out. My only real concern with BFS dev squad do not get a look in.