Fans fear West Ham’s transfer revolution could claim another star

Yesterday’s reports concerned young West Ham star El Hadji Malick Diouf  and a possible move away from the club for a whopping £40 million. Few would doubt the Irons’ wisdom in accepting a bid of that magnitude and doubling their money.

In the past, West Ham’s problem has always been in selling players for a profit – so to do so three times in one window would surely be remarkable and signpost a better, more financially sustainable way ahead for the football club.

It might not be the end of the young player sales, however: Whether the club can command a similar £20 million profit for young Soungoutou Magassa seems unlikely, but he is today linked with several top European clubs by footmercato journalist Santi Aouna:

“Soungoutou Magassa could leave West Ham by the end of the transfer window. Several clubs have made inquiries in recent weeks, including OM [Marseille] and OL [Lyon] . No concrete offers at this stage.”

With two such renown French sides on his trail, who could blame the young midfielder for seeking a move away when he cannot seem to command a place in Nuno’s first XI.

Whether either club – or indeed the likes of Juventus, Galatasaray, and Eintracht Frankfurt, with whom Magassa was linked earlier in the window – could come up with sufficient cash for a West Ham sale to make financial good sense – and for Nuno to sanction a sale– is another matter.

The Hammers paid €17 million – about £15 million for his signature just a year ago and so it’d take a bid of significantly more than that figure for West Ham to consider a sale, you’d hope, having already parted with Potts and Fernandes and with Soucek out for at least another month.