No Need For Irons To Scrap(e)

With the transfer window due to 'slam shut', funny how no one seems to be gentle with it isn't it? The usual media frenzy has begun as to who will end up where. What is obvious is that the sceptre of FFP hangs over club chairman's heads like the sword of Damocles and has had a catastrophic effect on agents' earnings which is why the unsocked Gucci shoe wearers have been seen braving the cold as they attempt to 'hustle up' deals in order to keep them in the style to which they have become accustomed, (sic) the poor dears!

Those clubs and agents who are actually really trying to get deals done in the remaining days of the winter window are encountering clubs that are 'chancing it' with their player valuations unless they are separate to sell. Those who have put their best players on the market are demanding top dollar, and in most cases NOT receiving it.

The deal to bring FC Nordsjælland’s Ibrahim Osman to West Ham is a classic example, with so few 'punters' the Danish club have no other option than to think of a number and DOUBLE it in the vague hope that there is a club out there that urgently needs their player to help avoid relegation or are cash rich and can invest for the future.

Hammers don't have to worry about relegation but they DO have to worry about FFP, therefore trying to do business with FC Nordsjælland has ultimately proved to be too complicated involving what would have been an unnecessary financial output.

Yes of course it would have been nice to sign the young Ghanian, unfortunately as is often the case with talented youngsters who have been 'backed' by various agents throughout their fledgling careers, the worms have started coming out of the wood work in the form of previously unheard-of agents suddenly demanding HUGE additional fees.

West Ham have done well to walk away from the Osman deal even if it does disappoint fans, there are precedents to be set and Tim Steidten clearly likes to draw a line in the sand that cannot be negotiated through unless it is to the club's eventual advantage.

Doing business during the January window is notoriously difficult, it is often a question of who 'twitches' last just as the window closes, with cash strapped clubs finally becoming realistic with their valuations.

The signing of Kalvin Phillips was a solid albeit expensive bit of 'safe' business, getting Ben Johnson to sign a new long term deal is another 'projest' Steidten has concentrated on. Sometimes a bird in the hand etc! Hammers have no need to scrap it out in the bargain basement and indeed no need to scrape the barrel- Ed