Big name signing could cause upset

Manuel Pellegrini’s interview in Chile with Emol seems to hint that he wants the West Ham owners to bring in one big name this summer like he did at Malaga when he landed Ruud Van Nistelrooy.

If the reports are to be believed that big name could well be Javier Pastore from PSG,  the 28-year-old attacking midfielder scored 4 goals from 34 appearances last season. Pastore has one year on his contract and PSG are said to be prepared to let him go for a mere £17m.

The transfer fee on its own is not the problem, he reportedly wants his current wages matched at £190,000 per week and that is where the major stumbling block could come.

For a three year contract at £190,000 per week he would cost almost £10m per year and with the initial £17m transfer fee the total investment could reach £47m over three years. It is probably fair to say Pastore has his best years behind otherwise why would PSG be letting him go, his injury record is also a concern. We wouldn’t want to end up with another Andy Carroll but on twice the money!.

The other challenge would be breaking the wage cap. Paying Pastore £190,000 per week would make a lot of current players unhappy and cause their agents to demand parity or renegotiate better terms.  To be fair, this is the one thing Spurs gets right with their strict wage cap.

I am also not sure what enormous wages like these would do for Financial Fair Play wage cap which is still in existence. Personally, I am just not convinced smashing the wage cap is the right thing to do, it is a slippery slope from there on.