OPINION
All is fair in love and war, or so they say, and West Ham fans will be paying much closer attention to the fortunes of Celta Vigo during the closing stages of the season after a juicy transfer detail was revealed on Tuesday evening.
The Hammers were very much interested in signing Uruguayan forward Maxi Gomez from the La Liga club in January, but any prospective move fell apart when the Spanish side refused to budge from the £42million release clause written into his contract.
According to the Mirror, however, that figure will be nearly halved to just £22million if Celta Vigo get relegated, and at the moment, things are looking very touch and go.
The side are currently occupying the third relegation spot in the Spanish top flight, one point off safety, but also just three points off the bottom of the table.
The drop is looking like a very real possibility, and as awful as it sounds, the Hammers will be praying it happens.
Gomez is a formidable striker, the kind who relishes the rough and tumble physicality of a proper old school battle with a centre-half, and on the face of it, he looks like he could be a wonderful addition to any Premier League side.
It would be a cruel twist of fate for Celta Vigo to go down and lose their star man, but if it benefited the Hammers in their push for regular European football, their fans would get over the guilt pretty quickly.
