Forum | General Discussion

Words emanating from Andriy Yarmolenko's agent indicate that the player wants to return to West Ham after starring for the Ukraine at the Euros. All seemingly very 'inspiring', but without wanting to dampen the parade, is the 30 year old wingers desire to stay at the club motivated by some deep seated desire to prove the doubters wrong, or is it merely a way of ensuring he gets paid another £5.75 Million for the final year of his outrageously generous contract?

By letting his contract run down, Yarmolenko not only pockets another £5.75 Million, but he also creates a situation whereby he can receive a large signing on fee from the club that 'swoops' to take him on a free transfer at the end of next season.

It's NOT Yarmo's fault that he was handed such an insane deal, but come on, he shouldn't try and gloss over his real intentions, the fact is, no one in their right minds would countenance paying Andriy even half of his current wages, so it is in his interest to see out the remainder of his contract.

Yarmolenko's time at the London Stadium has been an unmitigated and incredibly expensive disaster, if the club can get rid of him, even on a free, it will save another £5.75 Million, money that can be used to entice a NON injury prone player. Despite Yarmolenko's exploits for his country at the Euros, the fact is he is miles to slow for the frenetic pace of the Barclays Premier League, that is not to say that he wouldn't do well in other leagues, just not the Barclays League!

Even the player himself MUST be slightly embarrassed by the living that he has 'stolen' while on the books of West Ham, the sooner he is gone the better! - Ed

As promised we have a nice little interview with Angello Ogbonna, courtesy of Betway, detailing his past involvement with some of the great Italian players of the past. The combative but fair Hammers centre back appears to have overcome his exteme anger at having been excluded from the current Italian squad currently at the Euros.

Realistically the 'Og' is 34 years old now, and it is a testament to how much of a professional he is that he still looks and plays of someone years younger, but David Moyes cannot keep relying on Ogbonna staying fit, because eventually the years do inevitably catch up. Angelo has been a superb servant for the club, but next season will more than likely be his last at the London Stadium, and so who ever comes in will have very large boots to fill! - Ed

With all the outside media coverage there is, what is it like for the players? Here's a quick little vid that includes contributions from Angelo Ogbonna and Lukasz Fabianski as well as action from Vlad 'the impaler' Coufal. Click here.

We have a more personal interview with Angelo Ogbonna coming up tomorrow. - Ed

Yarmo Bumps Up His Value

Andriy Yarmolenko scored another goal and made another assist in the Ukraine's nervous 2-1 win over Northern Macedonia, he is currently joint top scorer in the competition and has already scored one of the goals of the tournament.

The more exposure 'Yarmo' gets, the more his value potentially rises, before the competition's start his value had plummeted to around only £3.5 Million, that figure looks certain to rise in the coming weeks, if he remains free of injury! If a team comes in with a 'reasonable' offer, Hammers must do everything they can to accommodate the purchaser, and now is the time to strike while the Iron is hot.

Forget the drivel that you may have read with regards to Hammers signing Roman Yaremchuk in order for him to 'link up' with Yarmolenko at the London Stadium, nothing could be further form David Moyes' thoughts. While Moyes may have a certain interest in Roman Yaremchuk, he has an interest in about forty strikers if you believe all that you read, so any move for Yaremchuk would be independent of Yarmolenko's destiny, it's only because they are both from the Ukraine that the match has been made.

It is to be hoped Yarmo can be moved on sooner rather than later, he is obviously still very talented, but his languid style of play is entirely unsuited to the hustle and bustle of the Barclays Premier League, he would be far more suited to the Eredivise or some other league where the pace is not so extreme. With a bit of luck the club could receive as much as £7.5 Million if he keeps up his goal scoring exploits, and have the added bonus of being relieved of his staggering £115,000 per week wages bill.

The same cannot be said for another of Pellegrin's other 'follies', if Yarmo's value has plummeted, then Felipe Anderson's has nose dived in to the centre of the planet! The impending £10-12 Million loss the club will experience on the Yarmolenko transfer, is absolutely dwarfed by the potential hit the club will have to take on Anderson. The £34 Million transfer fee to bring him from Lazio, now looks to be much more ludicrous than Yarmo's deal, and his value has dropped by as much as 70%!

To put that in perspective, £34 Million down to less than £10 Million, it s an astonishing fall from grace, Hammers would have done better to hold on to him rather than having sent home out on loan to Porto, where he hardly featured at all and was 'alienated' from their manager due to his poor work ethos...sounds familiar?

The club may have recouped around £4 Million in wages while Anderson was out on loan, but that figure is probably only a fraction of how much the player's value dropped while he was out in Portugal, but then again, hindsight is a wonderful thing...if you can go back in time!

But if the club could go back in time, it would never have employed Manuel Pellegrini would it? The estimates vary wildly as to exactly how much Pellegrini cost the club, but we reckon around a deficit of approximately £116 Million that the club lost in wages and fees for Yarmo, Haller, Wheelchair, Anderson and of course Roberto! - Ed

Costings for Pellegrini's profligacies: Wheelchair loss of £12 Million in wages and pay off. Haller £25 Million and £7.5 Million in wages. Anderson £24 Million and £8 Million in wages. Yarmolenko £10 Million and a staggering £22.5 Million in wages. Roberto £3 Million and £4 Million in wages.