West Ham United have been heavily linked with Paris Saint-Germain’s Javier Pastore.
According to a report by Tuttomercatoweb, West Ham United have offered Paris Saint-Germain attacker Javier Pastore a deal worth £140,000 per week to bring him to the London Stadium.
The Hammers are set for an interesting summer in the transfer market under newly-appointed boss Manuel Pellegrini, though that does not mean they should be looking for stellar stars straight away.
West Ham have had a torrid time in terms of transfers over the past 12 months, signing ageing players on big wages who are undoubtedly past their peak and on the decline.
The likes of Pablo Zabaleta, Patrice Evra and Javier Hernandez have arrived at the club, and for the money spent on bringing them in they now have little re-sale value making them a poor investment.
Pastore, who turns 29 later this month, would only be able to offer West Ham a maximum of two to three years before the natural decline and, within that time, there is little reason to suggest he will drastically improve the team.
The Argentine international has barely played regular first-team football for three years now, averaging just 18 starts per season and, when called upon at PSG, he has been mediocre at best.
West Ham would be far better off investing Pastore’s reported £7.45 million annual salary in three younger players with huge potential, similar to how London rivals Tottenham Hotspur have gone about their business.
If the Hammers have true aspirations of emulating Spurs and breaking into that elite Premier League group, they must play a long-term game and gradually build a young, hungry squad with potential.
Throwing big money at players for the short-term will not get West Ham to where they want to be, not least on players who haven’t given any reason of late as to why they should be commanding such a hefty salary.
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