OPINION
West Ham’s Premier League point tally when compared to its wage bill reportedly shows that the club spend £77,286 per player for each point they earn.
The Daily Mail worked out which Premier League club got the best value for the wages they provide and discovered that the Hammers were bottom of the table when it came to getting the most from their weekly outlay.
The newspaper claimed that the average basic pay of a first-team player at the London Stadium totalled £2.93million and when divided by the Hammers’ point total of 54, that meant each player cost £77,286.
This damning ranking of the Hammers when it comes to this unique way of finding out which top-flight team in England is getting value for money just perfectly sums up all of the board’s expensive mistakes.
Clearly the board have sanctioned big-money contract for players that haven’t worked out as David Moyes’ side haven’t looked like a team that have been heavily invested in this season.
The Hammers hierarchy opted to sign Javier Hernandez for £16million and hand him a deal that saw him earn £140,000-a-week, according to Sky Sports, last summer.
The 29-year-old has been nowhere near good enough this season at the London Stadium to justify either his weekly wage or his price tag.
Hernandez has only scored eight goals in 33 appearances in his debut campaign and isn’t considered a first-team regular at the Hammers anymore.
While assessing the centre-forward’s success with hindsight is easy, as he could have worked out, it’s safe to assume that his high-profile name earned him his deal not his potential to do well.
The Hammers hierarchy no doubt would have hoped he ticked both boxes, however you feel that they were more tempted by splashing the cash on Hernandez as his name was a marketable one due to his previous Premier League success.
You can see that the board picked a high profile name over getting the right player when they signed Joe Hart on loan from Manchester City for this season also.
The Sun previously reported that the Hammers wearing paying the goalkeeper £120,000-a-week and there must have been cheaper, more reliable, option for the club to take in the summer when searching for a new keeper.
So this all means that the Daily Mail’s report perfectly sums up all the expensive mistakes the board have made, as Hernandez’s or Hart’s presence alone isn’t enough for them to be ranked at the bottom.
It simply shows that they’re examples that could easily be picked out, but if you were to keep digging you’ll find just as many overpaid underachieving players in the Hammers first-team set-up currently.
