West Ham legend Tony Cottee delivered his verdict on West Ham’s transfer business and claimed that he was most excited by the capture of Jack Wilshere this summer.
The Sky Sports pundit, who scored 146 goals for the Hammers across two spells with them, shared that he thought it was great that the club had splashed the cash on recruiting several good players.
However Cottee claimed that signing of Wilshere on a free transfer following his Arsenal contract expiring was the one that stood out to him before proceeding to wax lyrical about the player.
“For me Jack Wilshere is the one,” said Cottee on Sky Sports News (Thursday August 9, 12:43pm).
“Yes they’ve signed some other good players, they’ve paid a lot of money for those players as well which is great from the club’s point of view and a fan’s, which I am, as it’s great to see the club splashing the cash.
“But Jack Wilshere free transfer, his family are West Ham fans, he’d have supported the club as boy which is great, he comes into the football club and knows what it’s all about and he’s a fantastic player.
“We’ve just got to keep him fit if we keep Wilshere fit not only will he be a star man for West Ham, he’ll be a star man for England as well.
“I’m really really excited to see him at the football club and I’ll think he’ll slot into that midfield to be a real addition to the football club.”
OPINION
There’s no denying that the Hammers may have secured a bargain when they successfully signed Wilshere on a free transfer as it’s not often that a player of his quality is available without a transfer fee being paid. However Hammers supporters won’t be sure whether the 26-year-old midfielder is a bargain until he regular delivers the goods for his club during his upcoming debut season. Wilshere has a fantastic campaign for the Gunners last season and managed to avoid spending a significant amount of time on the sidelines due to injury. If the midfielder can have another season where he doesn’t suffer any medical issues but this time with the Hammers, then he will surely be seen as a fantastic signing by Manuel Pellegrini. This will be the case as there should be no doubts about the player’s ability with the only concern being his past problems with injuries. Hopefully Wilshere will be able to establish himself as regular member of Pellegrini’s team in order to prove any doubters wrong about him.
