It Has Been Agreed Top Player Has To Go-But Who?

In the light of the current and future crisis that will impact so heavily on people's lives, The Barclays Premiership clubs are preparing themselves for 'life after doomsday'. No club big or small, whether owned by a sovereign state or a rich Oligarch or who ever, will be immune from the impact and fallout from the Covid-19 Pandemic, some could 'go to the wall' unless they seriously reduce their expenditure, so what news is coming out of West Ham United?

The major part of any 'elite' club's budget is paying the lavish amounts of wages players are used to, and it is not their fault that they were offered wages that spiraled from excessive to down right ludicrous, and before accusations of unfairness it should be remembered that it is not only Barclays Premier and Elite European Leagues players who earn ridiculous amounts of money, NFL, NHL, USA Basketball Players, Formula One drivers, Tennis players and other top sports persons have up to now been able to earn such huge sums due to the corporate nature of live events and their incumbent media outlet rules and finances.

The 'sway' of the Media is about to become even more invasive, recent 'confidential' information we received from a reliable source has disclosed the 'outline' proposals for Project Restart being sanctioned by the Government clearly point towards there being NO live Barclays Premier League football played unless behind closed doors until mid 2021 at the very earliest, even if an inoculation were made available due to the need for 'blanket' coverage of the population which logistically is a massive task destined to take 'an age'.

Between now and then, clubs will have to cut their cloth accordingly, some more than others, with many having to possibly sanction the sale of players who they would never have dreamed of selling before. West Ham United are no exception, however with prices of players set to plummet, at least for a year or so, who has been set up as the financial sacrificial lamb, and how may 'lambs' may need to go to slaughter? Hammers' best players are few and far between, with Declan Rice being the 'Jewel in the Crown' swiftly followed by Issa Diop, their combined value pre-pandemic was around £140 Million at best they are worth half that now, for the time being.

The club would take an enormous financial hit by selling these assets 'cheaply' for a short term reward, when their value would double if the club can maintain the players on their books during the 'lean days'. The likes of Andrily Yarmolenko could be sold, not for big money, but he earns a hefty £115,000 per week that could help balance the books. Wilshere, Reid, Gago and Sanchez are all a drain on the club's resources and should be offered 'exit' deals based on the new reality.

Apart from them, the club is blessed with creative midfielders who aren't always injured or have at least managed to play games following injury, Manuel Lanzini, Fellipe Anderson and Pablo Fornals are all talented 'luxury' players, Anderson in particular, and he is probably the most saleable out of the trio. Again from a reliable source, we have heard that David Moyes would prefer to let Manuel Lanzini go, but that the Hammers hierarchy would prefer to 'get rid' off Felipe Anderson instead as he is on much higher wages.

Of course in an ideal World Hammers would keep all three, and just move on the dead weights and perpetually injured players previously listed, unfortunately it would have been hard to move them on before things changed so dramatically, now it will be damn near impossible! Other clubs with 'banker' players that they were relying on selling or using as bargaining tools, now find their assets values severely reduced as well as their potential income, none more so than Hammers' London rivals Tottenham, who have spent and borrowed enormously to fund their new all singing, all dancing multi purpose Stadium in anticipation of year round revenue from Football, Baseball and American football with all the commensurate hospitality income. These expenditures were also made at the expense of first team squad building that eventually saw the departure of Mauricio Pochettino from the club.

Hammers may well lose one or two, or even a few players, but the co-owners are canny businessmen and know there are times to sell and those when not to, selling the 'family jewels' cheaply is an option they are unlikely to take, for now!- Ed