Comments made by West Ham United co-owner David Sullivan back in June could come back to haunt him as the club talks up the record signing of Andre Ayew.
West Ham United’s Andre Ayew was injured less than half an hour into his debut against Chelsea
The Hammers paid out an eyebrow raising club record £20.5 million to sign the Ghanaian from Swansea City last week.
Ayew’s arrival was met with some scepticism by Hammers fans who questioned the price tag and whether the player was good enough to truly make a difference to Slaven Bilic’s side.
Indeed those same Hammers fans still recall Sullivan and fellow co-owner David Gold’s pledge earlier this summer to spend over £30 million on a marquee striker who could get the 20 plus goals they felt could help West Ham challenge higher up the Premier League table, as reported by the Mirror at the time.
Carlos Bacca
No Bacca-up plan?
Speculation has been rife for weeks that the Hammers are ready to make AC Milan striker Carlos Bacca their marquee striker signing.
And while Bilic hinted he would like to make one more signing before the window closes, both Sullivan and Gold have suggested the club’s business is done in interviews with Claret and Hugh and whufc.com respectively.
Both men have been at pains to make a case for Ayew being the striker the club needs in a somewhat desperate attempt to curry the favour of fans – 52,000 of whom signed up for season tickets this season, the second most in the Premier League.
West Ham co-owners David Sullivan and David Gold
Ayew kidding me?
But comments Sullivan made on whufc.com back in June prove Ayew is anything but.
“Once we sign a top striker I will feel a lot better and that is the main position we need,” Sullivan told the club’s official website two months ago.
“Our top goalscorer last season scored 12 goals and if someone had scored 20 we would have been in a different position.”
Ayew only got 12 goals for the Swans in the league last season – the most he has scored in his career – which has led to some Hammers fans insisting the club still needs more firepower.
Ayew is not a 20-goal a season striker
An upgrade but not THE striker West Ham needed
There is no doubt Ayew is an upgrade on the options the Hammers had last year in the shape of Emmanuel Emenike, Nikica Jelavic and Enner Valencia.
But he looks extremely pricey at £20.5 million and it is so typical of West Ham’s luck that he will spend the first part of his Hammers career in the treatment room after he picked up an injury on his debut in the season opener against Chelsea on Monday night.
At 26 – he is 27 in December – perhaps West Ham are getting Ayew at the peak of his powers?
But unless Sullivan and Gold are playing smoke and mirrors as they try and lure a top striker on the quiet then they are being flexible with the facts over Ayew’s capture.
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