West Ham United have recently put in very low offers for Sunderland and Hull City stars.
The term ‘derisory offer’ is thrown about fairly regularly by managers nowadays, but it would certainly be a good way to describe West Ham’s recent bids for Premier League stars Robert Snodgrass and Jermain Defoe.
We are only 6 days into the January transfer window and the Hammers have already succeeded in placing more than one laughable transfer bid. Whilst we admire the Londoners optimism, one has to ask, just what does it achieve?
Football fans have almost universally mocked the Hammers for failing in their pursuits of players in the past, and the unusual way in which they so readily broadcast their interest in various talents from across the globe, and their decision to put in offers which sometimes seem to be missing a nought is just as perplexing.
West Ham have made laughable bids for Snodgrass and Defoe
Jermain Defoe scored 18 goals last season and 15 in the Premier League. Without his goals Sunderland would have been relegated in January. This season, the Englishman has bagged 11 already, better than a goal a game, and without his goals alone Sunderland would be 6 points worse off, meaning they would be 7 points from 17th and the safety that position brings.
The fact that Defoe is 34 is almost meaningless for the Black Cats. In his absence, David Moyes would either have to replace him or accept relegation. The prolific striker is currently on course to hit 20+ goals this season, and Sunderland could potentially find it difficult to attract a player to come to the Stadium of Light capable of doing that even with a budget of £50 million.
Of course, no-one expects West Ham to stump up £50 million for a 34-year-old with probably 2 years left in him at the highest level and no sell-on value, but bidding £6 million is an insult, and serves only to greatly irk the club in which they are supposedly hoping to do business with.
Sunderland are heavily reliant on Jermain Defoe
Today’s bid for Hull City maestro Robert Snodgrass is a similar story. The Scotsman has either scored or assisted more than half of all the Tigers goals this season. With 7 goals to his name in the league already, he has scored more goals than Olivier Giroud and Roberto Firmino this season in a Hull City team languishing at the foot of the Premier League table.
As Hull City look to mount a serious survival challenge in the second half of the season to retain their Premier League status, a status worth more than £100 million a year one might add, the man the new Tigers boss Marco Silva will look to before anyone else to win him games will be Robert Snodgrass.
As Everton fork out potentially £11 million for a League One player and Rudy Gestede swaps Aston Villa for Middlesbrough for a fee of £6 million, who are West Ham kidding with bids of £6 million and £3 million for the most integral players in two Premier League survival hopefuls?
Robert Snodgrass has scored or assisted 9 goals this season for Hull City
West Ham’s recent transfer market humiliation appears reminiscent in fact of Hull City’s in 2009 under the ever-ambitious Phil Brown. Having guided the Tigers to Premier League survival, Phil perhaps got a little giddy when it came to the transfer market with failed pursuits of Edinson Cavani, Alvaro Negredo, Michael Owen and more.
Whilst the Hammers may think showing they are active in the transfer market will please supporters, it appears to be doing the opposite. Most West Ham fans seem to wish the club would conduct its transfer business in a more professional and measured style.
‘The Insider in association with @TransferMate’ – West Ham’s official Twitter account seems more reminiscent of some wannabe ITK teenager, and it is quite frankly embarrassing. Telling everyone who you are interested in and putting in derisory offers for two of the Premier League’s best players this season only serves to do two things; alert other teams to your transfer targets and irritate club’s who you want to do business with. It is a bizarre approach and one the Hammers would be well advised to re-think.
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