OPINION
While West Ham’s ambitions to recruit the finest players in the transfer market will see them offer gigantic wages to lure stars to them, they need to be more careful.
The latest report on the pursuit of Jack Wilshere’s signature proves the club haven’t learnt from their past mistakes and it’s a worry.
According to The Sun the Hammers are more than willing to hand the injury prone midfielder a four-year contact with a bumper wage of £130,000-a-week in order to get him to join the club.
The 26-year-old may have proven his fitness for the Gunners in his 2017/18 campaign but whose to say that season wasn’t a rarity and Wilshere will soon struggle with injuries once again.
It’s very inspiring that the club are willing to take such gamble on a player in their pursuit of glory but it’s one they have seen fail at the club before and should have learnt from.
The Hammers opted to hand Andy Carroll a six-year deal when they signed him from Liverpool in 2013, as reported by the BBC at the time, despite him have numerous injury concerns before putting pen to paper.
The forward is still on the same deal he signed in 2013 and apparently rakes in £90,000-a-week (Source: Spotrac) due to his lucrative contract.
Carroll has only managed to make 132 appearances for the Hammers, which is woeful given how long he has been at the club, as more often than not injuries have kept him on the sidelines.
Yet despite paying a high price every week for having Carroll at the club and hardly seeing his quality shine through, the Hammers are ready to take a huge gamble on a player with a similarly poor injury record.
Also aside from Wilshere’s injury record, the Hammers haven’t learnt that handing out big money deals to high-profile names doesn’t guarantee success.
The 26-year-old midfielder would be a marquee signing in some respects just like Javier Hernandez was last summer.
The forward was handed a bumper pay packet which sees him still earn £140,000 a week, as reported by Sky Sports, and that outlay has hardly brought success to the club as of yet despite his prestigious name.
Hernandez had a poor debut season at the club and found himself not even guaranteed to start games by the time the campaign finished.
Therefore with the Hammers being reportedly willing to hand Wilshere such a huge salary and lengthy contract it shows they haven’t learnt from their past mistakes in the transfer market.
