The Hammers’ current perilous position within the relegation zone as the season reaches its finale has only increased the speculation over a likely summer mass exodus, unseen at West Ham since 2002/3 when virtually the whole squad left after the Irons were relegated.
Fans may have begun to come to terms with the possibility of losing top stars – books have to be balanced and of course the likes of Bowen, Summerville and Fernandes are ‘too good’ for the Championship.
Castellanos is a player of interest in Brazil
But the stories continue to circulate linking less ‘marketable’ players with a move away should relegation hit: Another such example today being Brazilian side Flamengo’s interest in West Ham’s latest ‘cult’ striker, Valentin Castellanos, according to odia.ig.com.br:
“Relegation in the Premier League can bring Flamengo closer to striker”
Runs their headline, suggesting that the clause in Taty Castellanos’ contract which will reduce his own £75,000 salary by 50% if the Hammers do go down, will mean that he becomes affordable for the Brazlians, who have been following him for several seasons:
“….West Ham will suffer a 50% cut in the salaries of all players, according to contractual clauses.And one of the players of the English team was recently targeted by Flamengo; it’s Valentim Castellanos. When he was still at Lazio, José Boto, technical director of Flamengo, tried to hire the 27-year-old Argentine striker, who at the opportunity preferred to fulfill his dream of playing in the Premier League.”
Whether Taty would flourish in the English Championship is debatable in any case: Our own transfer source last week claimed that West Ham would be desperate to sell both Pablo and Castellanos ASAP if relegation struck.
With two games still remaining and a two-point gap to bridge, there’s still hope that the Irons can escape the kind of piecemeal break up of their squad that relegation would surely bring.
A couple of goals from Castellanos in the next two games could make all the difference – and earn him another £1,850,000 a year to boot if his relegation clause remains un-triggered. Now there’s motivation for you.