And Then There Was One-Gomez Suitors Fall Away

West Ham United's pursuit of Felipe Anderson last season was a departure from the club's usual way of doing business, the reason being that the negotiations were conducted in 'private' by Mario Husillos and Manuel Pellegrini. The deal took a long tome to get over the line, and indeed seemed like it would never happen on numerous occasions, but eventually the pair's determination to get their man paid off handsomely.

Likewise the club's pursuit of Maxi Gomez has taken a convoluted path, however as was the case with Anderson, the serious parts of the negotiations are being kept secret until the deal is successfully concluded. Of course things could go awry if another club came in to hijack the deal, and there is also the matter that Gomez would prefer to remain in Spain, however in modern football when money talks loyalty usually walks!

One by one the clubs who were 'linked' with approaches for the 22 year old Uruguayan striker have fallen by the way side, meaning sites like www.bestsportsbooks.co have reappraised the odds for whether West Ham will finish the new season by qualifying for Europe, essentially there are very few European based clubs that can afford the overall costs of the type deal that will be required to acquire the 'hit man's' services. At such a young age he has a guaranteed sell on value which is what teams who had been interested were bargaining on, however Hammers have the financial muscle to 'blow most competitors out of the water' and look as if they will be rewarded for their determination by finally landing the player they have shown 'extreme' interest in since way before the last transfer window.

Should Gomez arrive it will definitely see the departure of Javier Hernandez from the club, he has no shortage of suitors but his massive wages are a real problem with West Ham possibly having to pay part of his wages even when he has been moved on, or accept a paltry fee for the Mexican International who is no spring chicken at the age of 31. With Andy Carroll due to be released from his contract within the week and Lucas Perez already sold there will be a definite need for replacements, but quality rather than quantity seems to be the order of the day.

Rumours that West Ham are interested in signing 35 year old free agent Emmanuel Adebayour are a little frightening, and we believe are just 'click bait', we cannot envisage El Pel and the Huse undoing all the good work they have done in reducing the overall age of the squad by adding a player who is well past his prime, even if his prime was good at the time! Come in Maxi, your time is up! - Ed