Manuel Pellegrini has revealed he wants to sign a “great” player at West Ham this summer who can convince others to join the club.
The new Hammers manager explained in a question-and-answer session with the Chilean media that he has given a list of names to the recruitment team at the Premier League club and they are in talks over several deals.
Pellegrini explained how he has tried to convince the West Ham hierarchy of the importance of a landmark signing who can pave the way for other blue-chip arrivals.
” We are trying to get the owner to loosen up to make an important investment and thus bring the players we need, the idea is to sign a great figure”, Pellegrini said to Encuentros El Mercurio, as quoted by Chilean outlet Emol. “If we manage to sign a top player it is very important for the status of the club because that will help convince other players.”
OPINION
Pellegrini’s revelation will fill West Ham fans with great hope. For others, it will go even further and send them into meltdown. They might have virtually lost faith in the board and the ability of transfer and contract negotiator David Sullivan to do anything other than talk a good game. But they will be firm in the belief that a manager who has won titles in three countries, including England, would not have taken the job unless he had been promised a few plum signings, recruited from a sizeable transfer kitty. Given Pellegrini’s pedigree, talk of a “great” player should mean precisely that. This might explain the Sky Sports report last week that West Ham were working on a deal to sign Paris Saint-Germain playmaker Javier Pastore. That is the kind of calibre of player the club need to provide a proper platform for Pellegrini improve a side that have spluttered and wheezed far too often since the disastrous move to the London Stadium two years ago.
