Hammers fans should be encouraged by David Gold’s tweet earlier today.
The West Ham co-owner confirmed that the Hammers won’t be chasing big names this summer.
Although recent talk of a move for a household name during the next transfer window has gathered pace in the form of Zlatan Ibrahimovic, co-owner David Gold hushed those rumours today by confirming that the Hammers will only go for good players, not big names.
We want good players not big names. dg https://t.co/UpMLqMl0in
— David Gold (@davidgold) March 9, 2016
This may come as a disappointment to some fans as the likes of Ibrahimovic turning out in the famous claret and blue would have been a sight to behold. However, the fact that Gold stated the club were going to search for good players is certainly encouraging news.
Look at it like this; ‘big name’ players tend to cost more and don’t always deliver. In Ibrahimovic’s case, he would demand excessive wages and his age would not guarantee any return in the long run. Dimitri Payet was certainly a renowned name in the French league but to claim that he was an established European star at Marseille would be pushing it. Therefore, ff Hammers fans have learnt anything over the past few transfer windows, it’s to trust our scouting system.
Dimitri Payet, Michail Antonio, Aaron Cresswell and Diafra Sakho are just a few names amongst a recruitment drive that has delivered mass success over the past few seasons. From that particular set of players, the total investment was under £25 million. Now, the value of those players combined is at least double that, if not more.
Proof that West Ham’s scouting system should be trusted
Tony Henry brought the likes of John Stones and Seamus Coleman to Everton for nominal fees and he seems to be implementing a similar success rate at West Ham. This is the man who, when Sullivan and Gold were at Birmingham, offered them Cristiano Ronaldo for £6 million. Not bad. He clearly has a knack of identifying potential talent without breaking the bank.
If the Hammers keep doing what they’re doing in the transfer market, the squad will continue to improve and West Ham will generate success the right way, by signing players with potential and nurturing them properly. This is, as some would say, the West Ham way.
We don’t want to throw money at players as a club can quickly develop the wrong identity if it adopts these desperate transfer prerequisites.
The manager and the board will bring in good players this summer at a competitive price. Therefore, rather than being disappointed with not signing a world-renowned name, Hammers fans should be encouraged by the prospect of buying somebody who could just as easily become the next big Premier League star.
The sweetest thing is that we won’t be crippling ourselves financially in order to pull it off.
