Speculation Rife As Pelle's Agent Arrives In London To Do Deal

Ex-Southampton player and Italian International Graziano Pelle's unlikely return to the Premier League has just got a lot closer with news that the player's representative has arrived in London to discuss Pelle's move from Chinese Super League club Shandong Luneng. Pelle obviously has the experience David Moyes requires to 'hit the ground running', but at 32 years of age any move for him would be expensive as he would have little or no sell on value at the end of the two and a half year deal that his agent is looking for.

6'4" Pelle is a proven Premier League goal scorer, having scored 23 goals in 68 appearances for Southampton before his lucrative move to China, and there in lies the problem of his potential move to the London Stadium as he is rumoured to be on £230,000 per week at Shandong. Realistically there is no way on heaven or earth that the Hammers hierarchy would countenance such an expenditure on one player's wages, Javier Hernandez is currently the club's highest earner and he receives £130,000 per week!

Playing football in China as an expensive import has it's draw backs, despite the massive wages on offer, many overseas players have cut short their contracts because of the 'gloomy' atmosphere, both politically with wide spread intimidation, and physically because of the terrible air quality. Pelle would have to take a huge pay cut in order to leave, and then there is the matter of whether Shandong Luneng want to accommodate the move, although it is common knowledge that they are keen to get the forward off their books as he hasn't exactly pulled up any trees since his fan fare arrival in the Summer of 2016.

Perhaps earning £13.5 Million per year for a year and a half was all that Pelle needed ? It should be remembered that Shandong paid Southampton just over £12 Million for Pelle, so including his wages he has already cost them over £25 Million for the 37 appearances he has made for them, scoring 12 goals in the process which equates to roughly just over £2 Million per goal, that's even more expensive than Andy Carroll! No wonder his club want to get him of the pay roll, with 18 months left on his contract he is set to cost them another £20 Million plus, recent regulation changes with regards to foreign players and financial clarity in China mean that clubs are no longer able to offer such lucrative contracts to more than two players in any given season.

It remains to be seen if David Sullivan, and HE is the one who makes all the final decisions when it comes to player recruitment despite his protestations, is willing to sanction a big money deal for a player who is clearly nearing the end of his shelf life. If there wasn't such an injury crisis at the club Sullivan wouldn't touch this deal with a barge pole, but with 'Sulkman' already gone to Rennes, Carroll in his usual perpetually injured state and Chicarito wanting out his hand may well be forced.

Are there any better players out there who could come storming to the rescue during this transfer window? Maybe, but you can bet your house that there is a Premier League manager or his technical director looking at every possible signing that can help his team stay in the promised land that is the cash rich Barclays Premier League, and that applies to any club from tenth place downwards. With so much money at stake clubs will take a risk in order to survive, it's just a question of how big a risk, as the lower leagues are full of teams that tried to 'have a go' and ended up overextending themselves with drastic consequences.

Like it or not the cash draw needs to be opened in the next three days! - Ed