West Ham United manager Manuel Pellegrini’s decision to sign midfielder Jack Wilshere against the board’s wishes has backfired, according to Football London.
Journalist Sam Inkersole, writing for the outlet, claims that the Hammers board initially only wanted to hand the England international a one-year deal when he joined in 2018 due to his injury history.
However, Pellegrini convinced them to sanction a three-year, £100,000-per-week contract for the 27-year-old, who has predictably gone on to miss plenty of football for the Irons.
Indeed, he is currently sidelined due to a problem, and the former Arsenal man has only managed 16 appearances in all competitions for the east London outfit [Source: Transfermarkt]
OPINION
There’s no arguing with Inkersole’s assessment of the situation, really. Wilshere came to the London Stadium with well-established injury issues, but for some reason Pellegrini felt it was a good idea to hand him a three-year deal on massive money. It didn’t make any sense at the time and it is even less logical now. However, that’s what the Chilean went for and were are now seeing the consequences of his decision. It’s rare that the West Ham board are praised for having the right idea about things, but you’ve got to say that their initial appraisal of the situation was spot on. Wilshere should have only been given a one-year prove-it deal. That would have allowed the Hammers to get out easily once he went down with a major injury that cost him most of last season. Pellegrini’s stubbornness, well-established now in his second season with the club, won him the day. The Englishman is a terrific talent, obviously, but he’s simply not reliable.
