Joey Barton has opened up on his failed move to West Ham United.
Joey Barton applauds fans
Rangers midfielder Joey Barton has claimed in his new book ‘No Nonsense’, as quoted by the Daily Star, that he completed a medical with West Ham United in 2015.
Barton, 34, is coming towards the end of a three-week suspension with current club Rangers, as he has yet again been caught up in a training ground argument with team-mate Andy Halliday and later manager Mark Warburton.
Rangers’ Joey Barton looks dejected
That time off has given Barton time to promote his new autobiography ‘No Nonsense’, which unsurprisingly features a host of fascinating tales from his playing career.
Barton tackles one particularly interesting situation, which saw his proposed move to join West Ham United in August 2015 fall through at the last minute.
As reported by the Daily Mail at the time, West Ham had intended to sign Barton on a free transfer after his QPR contract had expired, but backlash from supporters led to the Hammers cancelling the deal.
Joey Barton
Barton later went on to join Burnley and rebuilt his career, but his controversial history cost him his move to East London – and he has now discussed exactly what happened.
Barton wrote in his autobiography, as quoted by the Daily Star, that he thought West Ham boss Slaven Bilic was ‘impressive’, and he even completed a medical with the club.
Rangers’ Joey Barton
However, Barton felt that West Ham fans reacted as if they were signing ‘a serial killer’, but there is no bitterness towards the Hammers over the failed move.
“Slaven Bilic was impressive,” said Barton. “He spoke in detail about where he saw me playing for him, and gave me a summary of my strengths. I trained with the team for a couple of days. I even successfully completed a medical.”
“Somewhere in cyberspace it all fell apart. A vocal minority of West Ham fans reacted like they were about to be represented by a serial killer. That’s life and there’s no bitterness on my part,” he added.
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