The Real Reason Irons Are Chasing Euro Players

As the transfer window is about to close, fans from all top flight clubs but particularly those of West Ham United, are constantly scanning sports news media to see what progress, if any, is being made in bringing in reinforcements. Having missed out on some 'real' bargains from the lower leagues, the Irons seem to be concentrating on players available from the European leagues instead of the domestic one, but why?

Essentially there are two clear reasons, primarily UK based players are invariably disproportionately priced compared with their European counterparts, and clubs in the UK have a different payment criteria to those in Europe. Whereas it is common practise to spread the cost of a player over the entire length of his contract in Europe, the same cannot be said for UK clubs who generally insist on the entire payment up front.

Consequently it is possible for a club to say pick up a player with a €35 Million price tag on a five year deal which involves only paying €7 Million up front, so if any fan wants to know why West Ham are pursuing Nikola Milenkovic from Fiorentina they need look no further than the details of the accommodating' payment structure West Ham are currently actively seeking from the Italian club.

David Moyes’ have placed a £22.8m (€25m) offer on the table for the Serbian, but it is suggested that Fiorentina are holding out for a higher package, Milenkovic is a bit of a 'stylish bruiser', his dominating aerial presence and height of 1.95m in addition to his good positioning in the Serie A has ensured he is a valued commodity.

The main clincher, should the deal progress, is that aside from his regular central defensive role, Milenkovic is also capable of playing in the right back spot, a problem position that got a whole lot worse when Fredericks had to leave the field of play during the 4-0 tonking of Wolves.

Hammers were willing to pay £30m for James Tarkowski and also were prepared to 'go large' for Sofian Fofana earlier this month, so a move for Milenkovic is a bit of a no brainer, if the financial details can be sorted to all parties wishes. Milenkovic's wages are small in Italy, compared to the Barclays Premier league , so personal terms should not be an issue.

The other reason, that the Irons are pursuing 'foreign' players, apart from the beneficial 'HP' facility available from European clubs, is that unlike many Barclays Premier League teams West Ham United have a relatively high amount of players who qualify under the 'home grown players' rule and consequently can look to the foreign market for players with impunity.

As has been said on many occasions, there are some really, really decent players at West Ham. Unfortunately the squad was completely unbalanced and bloated, and while the recent cull' was very unpopular, with a couple of additions to cover the 'danger areas' David Moyes should have a team that cause could cause 'significant damage' to those who think they are better, Wolves were a classic example!

Sticking with Wolves, they have just spent big, and have not yet got the instant gratification of their new players hitting the ground running, reminds us of a certain club last season! - Ed