FIVE players that should’ve left West Ham in the transfer window

It has been a very busy transfer window for West Ham in terms of acquisitions, with nine new signings made, and a substantial amount of money spent in the process. However, it is arguable that the club could have sold or loaned some, who are unlikely to feature much in the current campaign, thus freeing up further funds and wages to improve the squad even more.

Here are five players West Ham should have sold or loaned out in the recent transfer window:

Matt Jarvis

Now I don’t dislike Matt Jarvis at all – he seems like a very honest, hard working professional, who does have some good qualities to his game. Unfortunately his final pass/cross/shot have generally let him down in his time at the club, and has therefore struggled to make much of an impact in terms of goals and assists. It has to be said that in hindsight, the reported £11million that the Hammers paid for the speedy winger was far too excessive.

Therefore, if the reports that West Bromwich Albion were willing to pay around £7.5million for Jarvis were true, I believe it would have been worth accepting the bid. It is hard to imagine a better offer coming in for the former Wolves man, and that money could have gone towards signing another winger, who has more to his game than Jarvis – such as the ability to consistently deliver accurate crosses and be able to cut inside and shoot from time to time; possibly a missed opportunity there.

Ravel Morrison

I won’t dwell on Morrison’s impending court case, for fear of being in contempt of court, but I feel that the Hammers should have looked to have sold the youngster earlier in summer, before any of the allegations against him surfaced. With no sign of him wishing to sign a new contract at the club, with just one-year of his current deal remaining, and after also apparently falling out with manager Sam Allardyce last season, it would have made sense to me to have looked to have sold the Manchester United academy product, if a reasonable price, of say, £5million could have been negotiated with the potential buyers – definitely a possibility earlier on in the summer. This would have been extra funds to go on improving the squad.

He hasn’t shown anywhere near enough in his career to date to justify the alleged problems he brings to the dressing room, and this season, it

is likely he will only be a bit part player in any case, after which Morrison will able to leave for nothing at the end of the current campaign. As it is, he is here to stay, and I very much hope that he can prove me wrong and become a regular in the first team through good performances and attitude, as we all know of the natural talent he possesses.

Reece Burke

The 17-year-old defender is one of the few members of the Hammers academy who looks as though he has a genuine chance of going on to become a first team regular in the future. Having been involved part of the first team’s pre-season, Burke put in a good display against Sheffield United in the Capital One Cup tie last week. In that match he looked solid and composed, comfortable in possession and most certainly not out of his depth. Indeed he is by all accounts well regarded within the West Ham set up.

With such potential, it might arguably have been a good opportunity to have sent Burke out on loan to a lower league side, and allow him to gain mote experience of playing in a highly competitive environment, with first team opportunities at West Ham likely to be at a premium this season, especially considering the club have already been knocked out of the Capital One Cup. The coaching staff have decided against doing this so far, but of course such a deal can be arranged at any time during the next couple of months, because of the emergency loan window, that applies to clubs in the football league.

Elliot Lee

Like Reece Burke, Lee is one of the brighter prospects of the West Ham academy, and the forward has an excellent goalscoring record with the development squad. He appears to be well regarded within the set up, too, with new attacking coach Teddy Sheringham recently praising his abilities. He was also an unused substitute in the recent League Cup match against Sheffield United.

However, Lee is unlikely to be a fixture in the first team any time soon, so again I think it might be a good idea to send him out on loan, with hopefully better results than were achieved when he played for Colchester United for a spell last season, where he only managed one goal. He is surely not going to improve substantially merely playing for the development squad, and he should develop as a player quicker playing in the lower leagues for a period.

Guy Demel

There was a rumour earlier in the summer that Demel wished to leave Upton Park, and return to his former club Hamburg, but has remained a West Ham player when the transfer window closed. Demel has been good for West Ham during the past few seasons, generally providing a solid and reliable job in the right back slot. As such, I’m still happy to have him at the club.

However, at 33 years of age, he is unlikely to be able to contribute in the same way for much longer, and with two right backs already at the club, in Carl Jenkinson on loan and Joey O’Brien, another young left back could have been acquired with the wages of Demel freed up, had the decision to have sold him been taken. This is not a big issue for me, however.