West Ham United know they cannot afford to get it wrong again this summer after a woeful season of recruitment.
West Ham manager Slaven Bilic
The Hammers have endured a torrid second season under Slaven Bilic and sit 14th in the Premier League table, a far cry from last season’s heroics where the club finished just four points off the Champions League places.
Co-owners David Sullivan and David Gold were full of promises to fans ahead of their move to the Olympic Stadium last summer.
But a terrible season of recruitment has left fans disgruntled over what they feel are broken promises when it comes to West Ham’s dealings in the transfer market.
Indeed the ability to compete with the Premier League elite as a result of the stadium move was held up as a carrot to fans dubious over the decision to leave the club’s famous Boleyn Ground home of 112 years.
Instead Bilic’s squad was diluted by a glut of poor quality loans or free transfer signings in the summer followed up by the overpriced acquisitions of the woeful Robert Snodgrass and 33-year-old Jose Fonte for a combined £18 million in January.
While a change in transfer policy to target young, hungry players under the age of 27 had been serving West Ham well, recent transfer speculation smacks of the kind of dangerous business conducted by the doomed Icelandic regime from whom Sullivan and Gold purchased the club.
The spending under Bjorgolfur Gudmundsson and Eggert Magnusson was reckless and ill-advised.
Eggert Magnusson at West Ham
The likes of Keiron Dyer, Freddie Ljungberg and Craig Bellamy all had hugely questionable injury records before the club splashed big money on bringing them to East London. The Icelandics also brought in a number of ageing players on big contracts which saddled the club with long expensive deals.
The Icelandic financial crisis hit which saddled the club with even more problems and eventually led to Sullivan and Gold taking over.
And the Hammers could be set to make the same mistakes again when it comes to recruitment if various reports are to be believed as Bilic has been linked with an interest in the likes of Daniel Sturridge and Jack Wilshere to add to sick note Andy Carroll.
Injury-prone:Daniel Sturridge
The club has also been linked with the likes of Jermain Defoe, Pablo Zabaleta and John Terry who will be 35, 32, and 37 years of age respectively next season.
Every side needs a mixture of youth and experience but West Ham must be careful not to make the same mistakes again, especially when things have been looking up off the pitch with the move to Stratford.
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