West Ham United are proving there is some sanity left in football after Crystal Palace lit the touchpaper on crazy transfers back in January.
The Hammers are on the verge of completing a £13 million deal for Mexico and former Manchester United star Javier Hernandez, according to the likes of Sky Sports.
The deal, aided by what is a paltry release clause in Hernandez’s Bayer Leverkusen contract by today’s standards, would end West Ham’s 18 month search for a top quality striker.
And while the deal for such a potent striker with a record of a goal every 1.4 league starts would be something of a coup for Slaven Bilic, it is in football club boardrooms around Europe that it will make just as big a splash.
Javier Hernandez
When desperate Crystal Palace shelled out an astonishing £12.5m for Leicester City’s second choice full back Jeffrey Schlupp as they scrapped for survival back in January, few would have predicted it would be the deal that lit the fuse on the transfer window fireworks that have followed.
As values and prices spiral out of all control – Brazilian Neymar being linked with a £200m move to Paris St Germain a case in point – the prospect of West Ham picking up Mexico’s all-time leading goalscorer for relative peanuts should be applauded.
The Hammers pledged to spend big when they left their beloved Upton Park for life at the 60,000 seater Olympic Stadium.
That sparked delusions of grandeur among owners and fans alike and when David Sullivan and David Gold failed to deliver, it fostered a cancerous animosity.
But should they get the Hernandez deal over the line, it will be proof that you don’t need to break the bank to bring in quality.
Crystal Palace’s signing of Schlupp was a watershed moment for transfers
The East Londoners have clearly done their due diligence on Hernandez and his contract situation.
To steal a player of his standing for just £500,000 more than Schlupp cost the Eagles would surely be the deal of the summer so far.
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