Hammer was never going to make the grade

The news that Sead Haksabanovic has no future at West Ham under Manuel Pellegrini will not come as a surprise to many in the football industry. The 20-year-old was part of a deal with an agent that smoothed the way to land Marko Arnautovic as a Hammer in 2017.

The Montenegro player is reported to be one of the highest-paid Academy players rumoured to be earning £15,000 per week breaking the upper pay structure of the youth setup.

Football agent Will Salthouse is said to have been involved in the double deal that bought both Arnautiovic and Haksabanovic to West Ham and it is claimed that both players were required to be signed to sign Arnauotvic.

Early indications from training ground staff after his arrival were that Haksabanovic was unlikely to make the Premier League grade needed for the first team and the player was sent out to Malaga then Norrköping to help cut some of the Hammers losses.