The 2010/11 season was not an enjoyable one for West Ham United. The Hammers had, in the season immediately prior, only just avoided relegation, courtesy of a 17th-placed finish in the Premier League under then-manager Gianfranco Zola, who was replaced by ex-Chelsea boss Avram Grant.
Across the campaign, the Hammers signed a number of players that would carve out memorable careers in the years to come. Centre-back Winston Reid, who spent years with the club, joined in the summer, as did the likes of Thomas Hitzlsperger and Pablo Barrera from Lazio and UNAM respectively.
In the winter window, West Ham acquired Wayne Bridge from Manchester City and Spurs striker Robbie Keane, both on loan, midfielder Gary O’Neil from Middlesbrough and a certain Demba Ba from Hoffenheim, who would go onto play, most notably, for Newcastle United and Chelsea.
Despite this, West Ham were never far from the bottom three. Towards the end of the season, in mid-May, the Hammers travelled to face Wigan Athletic in a crucial game. Despite having a two-goal lead, West Ham fell to a 3-2 defeat, condemning them to the drop and losing Grant his job.
As per the Daily Mail, in the summer prior to such a dire season, West Ham were linked with a player who could well have changed their fortunes, had they signed him.
West Ham Made Bid For Neymar
Hammers saw their offer rejected
Neymar in action for Santos
The Daily Mail reported, in June 2010, that West Ham had lodged a £16 million bid to Santos for a young winger called Neymar who, as he would prove in years to come, was keen to test himself in European football. Had West Ham seen their bid accepted, then it would have represented a club-record transfer at the time for a player that the Mail dubbed the "new Pele."
Neymar Club Career Stats
Notable Clubs
Appearances
Goals
Assists
Yellow Cards
Straight Red Cards
Select Honours Won
Despite the links, Neymar would spend three further years with Santos, only departing the club in 2013 after helping the club win their first Copa Libertadores in five decades. In leaving, Neymar moved to Barcelona where, alongside Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez, he formed one of football’s most fearsome attacking lines.
In Catalonia, Neymar won a continental treble in the 2014/15 season and for years, rightly so, was considered one of the best players in the world. Eventually growing disgruntled and wanting to lead his own team, the Brazilian departed Barcelona in 2017, joining Paris Saint-Germain for a world-record transfer fee.
Neymar faced battles with injuries during his time in the French capital, limiting what he would have been able to accomplish at full fitness. PSG maintained their domestic dominance with Neymar as part of their team, but the winger failed in guiding the club to what would have been their first-ever Champions League trophy, their ultimate goal.
In 2023, the winger joined Al-Hilal in Saudi Arabia, though further injuries meant that, across 18 months, he made just three league appearances. Earlier in 2025, Neymar returned to his boyhood club where, at the time of writing, he remains. Despite facing some shortcomings in his career, Neymar is still regarded as one of Brazil’s greatest-ever players.
How Neymar’s career would’ve panned out had he moved to West Ham back in 2010 will always be a hypothetical, though it could certainly be assumed that the Hammers would not have been so threatened, and ultimately consumed, by relegation had Neymar moved to Upton Park.
( All stats are fromTransfermarktand are correct as of 04/06/2025 )
Bale (at Spurs), Neymar (at Brazil), & Modric (at Real Madrid) with blackboard and formation on it and Spurs logo background Related
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