OPINION
West Ham dodged an expensive bullet in the summer by not signing Yaya Toure as the midfield powerhouse’s deal at Olympiacos has already been terminated.
The Hammers clearly contemplated the idea of signing the 35-year-old midfielder upon his contract at Man City ending as Manuel Pellegrini shared that he had to explain to the player why he wouldn’t be joining the London club.
“In the moment that we were doing our squad list, that position was covered by other players,” Pellegrini stated, as quoted by the London Evening Standard.
“We need money to bring in other positions, so I explained to Yaya clearly why he cannot come here but I hope he will find a good and big club because he is a very good player.”
According to Pellegrini having that chat with Toure, the media were constantly linking the Hammers with making a move for him.
The Sun even reported that the midfielder if the Hammers opted to sign him following talks would have had to hand him a package worth £100,000-a-week in order to get his services.
Given that according to Spotrac only two current Hammers players earn £100,000-a-week and above, Toure would have been an expense mistake as he proved at Olympiacos that he wasn’t the player he was once was.
The 35-year-old made only five appearances for the Greek giants before the news on Tuesday broke via their official website that they had agreed to mutually terminate his deal.
When you consider that the Premier League is arguably more, or just as at the very least, difficult to excel in as Greece’s top-flight then clearly Toure would have flopped at the London Stadium.
Therefore it has been made even clearer that the Hammers dodged an expensive bullet in the summer by snubbing the chance to sign the experienced powerhouse up as his current deal has already been terminated due to him not delivering the goods.
