Report-Guilherme-When Is A £25 Million Offer Not?

West Ham have apparently tabled a £25million bid for Palmeiras's teenage Brazilian forward Luis Guilherme, the highly rated 18-year-old winger has been in talks regarding a move to east London this summer with Tim Steidten pulling the strings.

Now there might also be a bit of leg pulling going on as well, although highly promising, Luis Guilherme has played 43 top flight games and has scored ONE goal and provided FOUR assists! Not exactly the type of numbers that would attract what is a relatively massive offer are they?

However, if you read between the lines regarding the youngster who has represented Brasil at ALL youth levels you will see that there is a lot more to the proposed deal than meets the eye. Firstly the payment structure DOESN'T have to comply with FA and UEFA rules meaning if required the fee could be paid over a huge amount of time, secondly the tranche ration of the payments can be adjusted by performance results AND more importantly to tie in with the now infamous 'player amortisation' ruling which has been so exploited by Chelsea.

Essentially the player can be signed for a relatively small amount of money upfront which would increase over the years, IF the player's value goes up then the amortisation is equalised, if however his value drops then the loss can be claimed by the buying club against THEIR FFP, confused? You betcha!

I a nutshell Hammers can take a punt on Luis Guilherme and if it works it will be seen as a masterstroke, if it fails it will NOT be a financial disaster. Expect South American expert Tim Vickery to release a statement confirming the anomalies of the deal once it has been completed if at all.

After all which looks best? Hammers sign £25 Million Brazilian starlet or Hammers put down £2.5 Million deposit on promising youngster? Smoke and mirrors season HAS begun! - Ed