West Ham still have three more spots up for grabs in their 25 man squad. Could they be poised to add to it?
It may have gone unnoticed by a most in England, but over in Turkey yesterday something seismic happened on the country’s football scene.
Brazilian playmaker Alex, who is so revered by Fenerbahce fans he even has a statue outside the stadium, was released by mutual consent after falling out with his manager.
He may be 35, but is one of the best playmakers of his generation, and had he not been so loyal to Fener, where he had been since 2004 then the global accolades would no doubt have come with it.
Just this summer he scored a terrific goal to help the club win the Turkish Cup, showing he still has what it takes to dazzle, and scored 17 goals in total last season while providing 11 assists. The year before he won the Golden Boot with 28, helping Fenerbahce win the title.
His record at the club is quite astounding; in 340 games he has 172 goals and 139 assists. He hasn’t gone ignored by the Brazilian national team either, earning almost 50 caps,
Clearly his age is a factor against signing him, but his talent means he has to be worth a shot. The reason we ask if West Ham and Sam Allardyce will be interested is thanks to the manager’s track record of taking on talented older foreign stars.
In his Bolton days Allardyce signed and managed Fernando Hierro, Youri Djorkaeff, Ivan Campo, Jardel, and Jay-Jay Okocha. He proved he still likes a gamble this summer by taking Guti on trial with West Ham.
When you consider Fulham have just signed a 35-year-old Giorgos Karagounis, and watch Paul Scholes making waves at United at 37, picking up Alex on a short-term deal may just not be so crazy.
Alex will no doubt have plenty of offers from around the world, and there may be more than one Premier League club interested in his services, but we wouldn’t be surprised to see Allardyce make a pitch to add him into the mix.
We aren’t sure what he’d make of playing behind Andy Carroll, but there’s one way to find out…
Watch Alex in action…
Could you see it happening? Would you like it to?
image: © mertol
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