Former West Ham United star Joe Cole has delivered an exciting verdict on the club’s potential in the transfer market.
The Hammers are enduring a poor second season under Slaven Bilic and are desperate for more firepower and defensive recruits in the January transfer window.
The club has been linked with moves for Sunderland’s Jermain Defoe, Brentford’s Scott Hogan and Celtic star Moussa Dembele.
According to the Daily Mail, the Bhoys have told West Ham they will have to pay £30million to land a player they signed for a mere £500,000 in compensation to Fulham less than six months ago.
Meanwhile an £8 million move for Hogan was rejected by the Bees and the club has been forced to abandon a move for former player Defoe, as reported by Sky Sports.
West Ham co-owners David Sullivan and David Gold
Some West Ham fans are still upset with owners David Sullivan and David Gold after they failed to deliver the promised marquee striker signing in the summer.
Only Edimilson Fernandes has made any kind of positive impact from the 10 players signed on a variety of cheap free transfers or loan deals which have diluted Bilic’s squad this season.
Strikers Simone Zaza, Jonathan Calleri and record signing Andre Ayew have all flopped while young Ashley Fletcher has been used sparingly.
Flop: It wasn’t to be for Simone Zaza at West Ham
Many supporters feel such public talk of big spending from experienced football club owners was merely a ploy to sell season tickets – and it worked with 52,000 Hammers fans signing up for the first season at their new Olympic Stadium home, second only to Manchester United.
The club has had more success dipping into the Championship for players in recent seasons with the likes of Aaron Cresswell and Michail Antonio proving to be bargains at £3million and £7.5million respectively.
Sceptical fans are very much of the opinion ‘we’ll believe it when we see it’ over the likes of Dembele and are refusing to get caught up in the current transfer talk swirling around the club.
Joe Cole
But former Hammers hero Joe Cole, who had two spells with the club, has told West Ham’s official website he believes they will soon be able to lure some of the top players in Europe to East London thanks to their new 60,000 seater ground.
“If you are trying to sign a top player in Europe and you bring them down to see this venue I am sure they will be queuing up to play here,” Cole told whufc.com.
“I think it is an amazing stadium and it looks immense. I was getting an itch just looking out at the pitch and would love to have been out there playing.
“When you come to a new Stadium you are going to have some little problems, but this is forward thinking by West Ham United and this is 100 per cent the right thing to do.”
West Ham have proved they can lure leading players in the past with the signing of Dimitri Payet a perfect example.
What they failed to do in the summer was build on their success by signing three or four quality players to complement the likes of Payet and Manuel Lanzini and take some of the onus off those players in what is always a difficult second season.
Hammers fans will be hoping Cole is right and he would know what attracts a top player having been one himself during a fine career with the likes of West Ham, Chelsea and England.
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