West Ham’s January signing of Pablo Felipe has taken a remarkable twist after Claret & Hugh learned that just €8 million of the €21 million fee actually reached selling club Gil Vicente.
The revelation raises serious questions about where the rest of the money has gone — with a huge chunk of the transfer believed to have been swallowed up by agents and third parties.
For a club already under scrutiny for its recruitment and spending, this is not a good look.
West Ham transfer fee breakdown exposes agent-heavy Pablo deal
Pablo only joined Gil Vicente last summer for around €240,000 following a loan move from Famalicão, making the scale of the January deal even more surprising.
As part of the agreement, Famalicão were entitled to a 15% sell-on clause, meaning they are due around €3 million from the transfer.
But even accounting for that, it still leaves around €10 million of the fee unaccounted for in terms of direct club-to-club payment.
Claret & Hugh has been told by a Portuguese source that suggestions West Ham had to exceed that clause to structure payments are wide of the mark.
“I don’t know why West Ham paid so much.”
Claret & Hugh Exclusive: A source has questioned the money West Ham paid for Pablo
Pablo deal raises serious questions over West Ham recruitment decisions
From a West Ham perspective, this is where things start to look uncomfortable.
Pablo, who is yet to score for the club, has shown effort and work rate, but in terms of technical ability, he has looked well short of the required level.
The reality is, this looks like a player West Ham have massively overpaid for.
The situation becomes even more questionable when looking at the connections behind the deal.
Pablo is known to super-agent Jorge Mendes, who also represents Nuno Espírito Santo and is believed to have recommended the player.
There is also a historical link, with Pablo’s father having played alongside Nuno at Porto — and let’s be honest, it doesn’t sit particularly well.
Add to that the recent revelation from the West Ham Fans’ Advisory Board that Karren Brady was involved in negotiating deals during the winter window, and the picture becomes even more concerning.
Last season, West Ham spent around £18 million on agent fees. Based on this deal alone, a significant portion of that figure is set to be blitzed when this years accounting is revealed.
And when you break it all down, it leaves one unavoidable question — how did West Ham end up paying €21 million for a player whose club only received an estimated €8 million?
No surprise here we always tend to overpay on players, maybe C&H should ask their sources where the other £10 mill went, maybe a payment to agents who then gave kickbacks to, well you can probably guess
Some of the answer may well be that, as is the norm, the payment is spread and the initial €8m is simply the first payment, not the total.
That said, if we have paid €21m, possibly including agent fees, when the buyout clause was €15m then we are not only overpaying unnecessarily but increasing our chances of yet again not being able to sell a player for a profit…….and that is without looking at Pablo’s performances.
Whether it was Brady or Sullivan involved in the negotiations, either had just further proved their ineptitude. Out of their depth.
Eight million of a twenty-one million fee has ‘reached’ the club. If the deal is structured on payments why would this be unusual? They will get more with later payments.
A desperate punt by clueless equally desperate numbskull owners.
Meant play him as a 9 (not 10)
Pablo puts a shift in and has been an important part of the improvement we’ve seen. The financial shenanigans should not reflect on the player. Football is a broken business model with many different snouts in the trough. My biggest issue if the kow-towing to TV companies meaning stupidly timed kick-offs that affect my ability to attend matched.
Shocking signing. Looks like he’s won a competition to play for a football club. Second touch is often a tackle.
God bless his work rate and the fans love a player who tries hard but that will only last for so long and his inability to put away his chances (even a spot kick) is going to wear thin.
Play him as a 10 in the box with Taty behind him. Definitely not effective in the midfield. I can only assume they bought him hoping he’ll rip it up in the championship.
Old pals act.
Definitely not standing up for the board here as can’t wait to see stories that hold them in a bad light, but isn’t it the fact that these deals are paid for over a period of years ? 8 million is about what Pablo is worth in today’s money IMO and if he doesn’t start to add a few goals that value will depreciate.
even if they only paid 8m, that’s 8m too much.
there are div1 players with more capability.