“What is all the fuss about“? For anyone who is not a West Ham supporter, the sale of Mohammed Kudus, a 25 year old ‘superstar’, to West Ham’s biggest rivals for a modest £55 million fee – well below the £85 million release fee, would seem cause for disappointment, not universal disquiet.
Similarly, anyone not familiar with West Ham’s history would see the ‘one-year cover’ signing of 32 year old Callum Wilson revealed earlier today as sensible if the deal is not a financial drain on the club.
However for West Ham fans these are continued salt salves applied to a raw wound. Having blown £140 million last summer for a bunch of players who only just kept the club in the Premier League, West Ham now have to flog off the family silver to keep the FFP wolves from the door and bring in two free signings out of the three incomings.
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The club’s strategy reeks of short term-ism and to the faithful, the sale of Kudus and his replacement with the veteran Callum Wilson is just a repeat of the oldest, biggest sleight of hand trick which the owners have undertaken, selling off the historic old ground, making all sorts of ‘world class’ promises and banking the cash whilst moving into a rented home.
Ignoring for a second Wilson’s “unfortunate” comments about West Ham in the past, a balanced article would point to the prudence of having another cheap striker on the bench ‘just in case’.
But that’s the whole point. As the club with the tenth biggest attendance in world football, West Ham should not be reliant upon ‘a cheap striker just in case’.
As sky sports put it very succinctly in a ‘Mic drop’ moment: “Wilson failed to score in any of his 18 Premier League appearances last term”.
I don’t blame Wilson. I’ll grit my teeth and try to give him a fair chance. If young Hammer Callum Marshall with undoubtedly two of the most experienced veterans in the Premier League to learn from, blossoms into the real deal at West Ham in the next twelve months then I’ll admit I was wrong. Just don’t dare try and flog him off next Summer.
Callum Wilson’s one year deal must be the final nail in the coffin for any remote prospect of Michail Antonio’s comeback: To have two thirty-something crocks in the side is bad enough: Three would be unthinkable.
Wouldn’t it?