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In an attempt to secure the services of a 'marquee' player West Ham United are going to have to push the boat out, and the proposed move to sign James Rodriguez from Real Madrid is certainly a statement of intent, if indeed it transpires to be as real as it currently seems. Splashing out around £65 Million is a massive investment as well as being a humungous gamble, especially for a club like West Ham who have only recently managed to claw themselves out of a mountain of debt inherited by the two Davids, Sullivan & Gold.

Midnight on July 16th Central Chinese time marked the end of the Chinese Football federation's transfer window, and as such removes one major cash endowed player from the lunacy that is going on in the European transfer window! Quite how much the emerging Chinese super league is effecting the fees being commanded by players and their agents is difficult to quantise, but there has undoubtedley been a a seismic shift when it comes to football's economic power houses.

West Ham United have been drawn against the winner of Shakhtyor Soligorsk of Belarus or Domžale of Slovalia for the next round of the Europa League Cup competition. The matches are due to be played on the 28th of July and the 4th of August, Hammers will be hoping that the home leg of the tie can be played on a date that suits their Olympic Stadium schedules. - Ed