Back to The Future as West Ham Shamelessly Ditch DOF Transfer Model

Good luck to Keiber Lamadrid as he joins West Ham United.

The Venezuelan 22-year-old is due to arrive on loan with an option to buy for around €1m, a clause that is widely expected to be triggered. The transfer will be transformative for the young man’s life, with Lamadrid reportedly earning less than €3,000 per month at Deportivo La Guaira.

For West Ham, however, I’m afraid this transfer signals a return to the bad old days. Nothing points more clearly to the death of the club’s director-of-football recruitment model than this deal.

Lamadrid is said to be a ‘gift’ from David Sullivan to manager Nuno Espirito Santo, and is not believed to be ready for the first team for another year. At less than £1m, it is a relatively low-risk move, but we have seen this type of signing many times before.

A Familiar West Ham Pattern

I often refer to these deals as ‘Wellington Paulista’s’. You may remember he was a Brazilian striker gifted to then West Ham manager Sam Allardyce in 2013, and he never made a single appearance for the club. There are, unfortunately, more recent examples.

Brazilian centre-back Luizão was signed from São Paulo FC for around £1m in 2023. He is no longer at the club, having failed to make a senior appearance under multiple managers. The individual who brought him to West Ham is not a name many will recognise, but my understanding is that he is also involved in bringing Lamadrid to the London Stadium.

Don’t get me wrong, I wish Lamadrid well, but it is difficult not to see this as a significant downgrade on Luis Guilherme, who is younger and, frankly, better.

Club sources told Claret & Hugh yesterday that Lamadrid is “12 months away from the first team, but never say never”. That would make him 23 years of age when deemed ready, which is very different from Tim Steidten signing an 18-year-old Mohamadou Kanté for a season in the U21s.

Medieval Recruitment Returns

But that is not the real issue. The problem is that the promise of scouting and cerebral recruitment appears to have gone out of the window. Even the appointment of Kyle Macaulay at least gave the impression that West Ham were persisting with a data-led model.

What we now seem to have is a manager using a preferred agent to sign most players, alongside an owner making cheeky side punts in the hope that something comes off. Make no mistake, this is not how top-level football clubs conduct their business.

Nothing against the player himself, and nothing against the price tag – it is low risk. That said, it indicates West Ham are going backwards rather than forwards with their recruitment strategy.