Half Price Haller Horror

Half Price Horror Sale! Pellegrini Signed Us For Over £100 Million, We Are Worth Less Than Half Now
Some might say losing £25 Million in order to sell your record signing is atrocious business, which it is, whereas others might say that West Ham were extremely fortunate in achieving even £20 Million for misfit striker Sebastien Haller. It should be remembered that prior to his 2019 arrival at the club, Haller was NOT Manuel Pellegrini's first choice as striker, Maxi Gomez was the player sought by the Chilean ex-manager of West Ham but a deal could not be put together.

The naivety of the Hammers board was exposed and exploited by the wily Pellegrini who recognised the apparent desire to spend big in order to justify the move from the much revered Boleyn Ground to the White Elephant that is the as yet still unbranded London Stadium.

There must be several despot states that would love to be able to relieve people of their funds with the efficiency of the 'Pellegrinophile'! £45 Million for Seb Haller, £36 Million for Felipe Anderson and £22 Million for Issa Diop represents an outlay of over £100 Million, where did it all go wrong?

Haller has joined Ajax, where he will probably bang goals in for fun, Anderson is bench warming while on an unsuccessful loan at Porto, and Diop's form has dropped off the cliff to such an extent that he finds himself behind Watford's Craig Dawson in the starting line up!

So there we have it, for an outlay of £103 Million the club has now lost £25 Million on Haller, while Anderson's value has halved meaning an £18 Million loss, Diop has not gone down in value, but he certainly hasn't gone up, despite being young and previously superb at the back.

Of course West Ham do not have the monopoly for signing over priced heavy loss making players, that honour is shared jointly by London rivals Arsenal and Chelsea, particularly the latter. The signings of Anderson, Diop and Haller were a classic example of a narcissistic manager who was obsessed with his 'big club mentality' ethos, but was actually in complete denial, the result was a totally imbalanced squad which had gaping holes in it that needed addressing but they weren't.

The grim reality is West Ham could not afford to lose £50 Million before the Covid-19 epidemic, let alone now, however there is hope that David Moyes if given the proceeds of the Haller sales might just be able to work his magic in the transfer market, with the Czech Republic being his primary 'honey hole'.

If used wisely, the Ajax money can fund the arrival of a much needed 'proper striker' who doesn't fall on his backside at the slightest of touches, a left back and an additional midfielder as cover for Rice and Soucek. It is rather ironic that the only signing Pellegrini and his director of football Mario Husillos made was that of Pablo Fornals, who was the least 'fancied' of the influx of players but has turned out to be the best, and the only one that David Moyes appears to trust.

A European place is tantalisingly close for the Irons, this season more than ever, but having been 'torched' by Pellegrini, the Hammers hierarchy will be loathe to go down that road again, however if they don't back Moyes they may well regret not taking the genuine opportunity, one that they must have dreamt of in the past, of finally reaching the 'next level', a promise they made in order to justify the move from the 'hallowed' ground that was the Boleyn. - Ed.