As Luís Guilherme departs West Ham United for Sporting CP, there has been considerable debate over exactly how much the Hammers received for the young Brazilian.
In an effort to clear up the grey area, Claret & Hugh have spoken to a senior source with direct knowledge of the transfer to confirm the definitive figures.
The deal is worth a guaranteed £14m, with a further £2m in add-ons dependent on appearances. In addition, West Ham have secured a 10 per cent sell-on clause should the 19-year-old go on to earn a bigger move in the future.
Speaking directly to C&H yesterday, our source revealed:
“The deal from Palmeiras was €19m including add-ons, but those add-ons were never met. The final figure was never close to that sum.”
They added: “It’s pretty much a break-even deal unless the lad goes on to do something spectacular in the future.”
And that, really, is the long and short of it. Given how poorly West Ham handled Guilherme’s development — allowing him to wither on the vine without a clear pathway — the club are fortunate there was not more depreciation in his value.
The truly sobering detail is this: the combined fees recouped from Guilherme and Niclas Füllkrug will barely cover the cost of new Hammers signing Pablo Felipe Pereira de Jesus.
It’s a shame Guilherme wasn’t given a chance, we never explored his potential if anything we set him back.Good luck to him.