HOW TOFFEES HAVE MADE THINGS SWEET FOR THE HAMMERS
WEST HAM are reaping the rewards for their bold transfer revolution ahead of the move to the Olympic Stadium, according to David Sullivan.
Four wins from their opening eight Premier League games – including at Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester City – has seen them climb to sixth in the table.
And Sullivan pins their rise on a decision he made with fellow co-owner David Gold and chief executive Karren Brady to change recruitment policy over the last 14 months.
The Hammers go to Crystal Palace today in the belief thee pool of talent overseen by manager Slaven Bilic is arguably the best at Upton Park in more than a decade.
Sullivan – enjoying the success of his recentlyproduced movie The Rise of the Krays – revealed the plan for the revamp was hatched at the end of the 2013-14 season.
He surveyed a squad heavily reliant on Andy Carroll which was put together by Sam Allardyce and felt he had not had value for money.
“I looked at what we had bought and my view was we hadn’t spent very wisely,” said Sullivan. “So I thought, ‘I’d like some input from somebody else. Another pair of eyes. Another opinion’.”
In came former Everton talent spotter Tony Henry, available after Roberto Martinez brought in his own men at Goodison Park. West Ham then started their overhaul.
Senegal striker Diafra Sakho, the French Ligue 2 player of the year, arrived from Metz for just £3.5million. Aaron Cresswell (above) was a similar fee from Ipswich and ended up the Hammers fans’ and players’ player of the year.
Cheikhou Kouyate (above top), signed from Anderlecht, was the subject of a rejected £15m bid by Spurs, while World Cup star Enner Valencia also attracted interest.
This summer, having moved on a string of players to reduce the wage bill, £10m Dimitri Payet was the headline act from Marseille while midfielder Pedro Obiang (below, centre), in from Sampdoria, and defender Angelo Ogbonna, a Champions League finalist with Juventus last season, have been instant hits.
Carl Jenkinson and Alex Song were retained on loan, while Victor Moses and Manuel Lanzini have been impressive temporary additions.
Sullivan added: “We’re not buying youth for youth’s sake. Payet, who is 28, is a classic example. He’s at the peak of his form.
“He’s been a fabulous signing. Maybe now people believe me when I sayy that if he were five years you younger he would be a £30m p player. He’s the leading assist-maker in the Premier League. He wouldn’t look out of place in any of the top t teams. “We have a mixture. We’re n not just looking at young ones. But we’re not buying end-of-career players any more.
“We’ve changed the cu culture here. Yes there is a always the chance we would take someone older. But we’ve moved the club on.
“Exciting players now see W West Ham as a London club with ambition that they would want to play for. Tony brought in Obiang. He cost £4.5m. I think he is going to turn out to be a good player.
“He did really well in the win against Manchester City.
“I chose Tony to help with player recruitment as I thought Everton had a good track record of buying players. They bought the right-back Seamus Coleman for £60,000.
“They bought John Stones for £3million two years ago. This summer they were talking about £35m to £38m for him.
“I also went for Tony because he offered me Ronaldo for £6m at Birmingham about 12 years ago, just before he went to Man United.
“He would probably still have gone to Man United – but via us.”
The Rise of the Krayss is currently available on DVD.