As the signing of Colombian hit man Carlos Bacca from AC Milan draws to it's conclusion, there will inevitably be movement out of West Ham United for one or both of Diafra Sakho and Enner Valencia, with West Bromwich Albion and Lazio being the interested parties. Sakho, with his physical prowess (when not injured) is ideally suited to join up with Tony Pulis at the Hawthorns whereas Valencia, despite his obvious talent, has proved to be too light weight for the frantic hustle and bustle that is the Barclay's Premier League, his abilities being best suited to the less frenzied approach of Serie A football. The Hammers hierarchy have made it clear that they want to recoup as much of the £12 Million they paid for Valencia as possible and are unwilling to listen to loan offers, we also believe that there is a 10% sell on fee due to Mexican club Pachuca who he was signed from.
The situation with Diafra Sakho is entirely different to that of Valencia's, having endured a miserable season both emotionally and physically it was hoped that he would return for the new season full of vim and vigour, however the 'spat' which occurred towards the end of last season which saw Sakho and Song clash, resulting in Song being 'bounced out' of the club, doesn't seem to have been fully resolved. Having just returned from a lengthy lay off it was assumed that Sakho would make a major contribution towards the end of season Boleyn run in, instead there were just tantrums and demands, West Ham co-owner and majority share holder David Sullivan was the man responsible for bringing Sakho to the club and will be unwilling to see him depart, but if a decent fee of around £15 Million can be agreed then he won't feel too bad about £11.5 Million profit made on the deal!
Of course in an ideal world one or both players would be retained, but it is not an ideal world and footballers are currently able to make ludicrous demands which is all very well if they are delivering the goods, however each player has not and therefore their impending departure, whilst not totally desirable is understandable. - Ed
Comments
We don't have a good record of forwards
The list of players signed over the past few years is pretty shocking, but I got the signing of Carroll at the time and respected the bargain buy of Sakho. Time to move on and to think about being serious, and in order to do this we have to have strength in depth. Bacca I believe will be a fantastic signing and I think he could link with Payet and become our version of last years Mahrez and Vardy. Link a creative player that can split defences with a quick player that runs off the ball well then you will score goals against any side, as was proven last season. As much as I would prefer if Sakho stayed at the club, I believe he wants to go and he feels he should be on the team sheet and not playing second fiddle so we need to let him go. So with WBA interested in both Sakho and/or Valencia, why don't we look at a swap plus cash deal for Berahino? He may have thrown his toys out of the pram at times but, read his life story and what he has achieved then I think you would forgive the odd strop, totally inspiring. I think in the right team and with the right service, he will deliver and he is still very young and has years ahead of him. The other club showing an interest is Sunderland, and despite what many may think I would swap Valencia or Sakho for Defoe any day. He has a couple of seasons left and at the end of last season he kept Sunderland up with his goals, his fitness and eye for goal is still there and players like him are so hard to find. We need goalscorers and we don't need panic buys of players with no proven track record of scoring goals, that would be a disaster for us given last season and the potential of the club.
Looks like Bacca deal dead in the watrer.
This is going to be one helluva tough season. Chelsea, Liverpool and both Manchester teams had sub-par seasons last time out so guess what? They are spending untold millions in transfer fees AND wages. And guess what -- they CAN? Because they are richer than the rest of us. Latest news is that Chelsea are buying half of the Leiecester starting team, and Manure, after getting Ibra, and going to complement that move with a record breaking move for Pogba. Arsenal want Bacca and can offer Champions League football ... I'm sort of in a mood to say get Calleri, reset our sights on the top ten, keeep our youth and get them some first team experience (Fletcher, Samuelsen, Oxford, Burke, etc.) and move up from there.