Young Hammer Benicio Baker-Boaiteys reportedly “on the move” to join German giants Bayern Munich but the club has admitted to ClaretandHugh they are completely in dark as to what is going on with the West Ham teenager.
A senior club insider alleged agents that with no control over agents the club can do very little about such scenarios despite their investment in the player.
In the case of Baker-Boaitey, Claret and Hugh understands that the agent involved is Aidy Ward, who moved Reece Oxford on from the club to the Bundesliga.
While highly rated by some, 16-year-old Baker-Boaitey has yet to prove himself at any competitive level and many coaches believe he would be better off staying at West Ham and attempting to break through like Ben Johnson and Declan Rice.
West Ham saw a similar situation with Jeremy Ngakia where an agent may have persuaded him to move on with most players and coaches telling him he would be better off to stay put.
When you look at how many young players actually make it it’s very small.
I think these agents are performing a role close to people trafficking or some would call it grooming.
They are making fortunes by touting around very young people to the highest bidder, these so called agents should not be allowed near these children until they are over 18.
Any other walk of life and they would be protected, it’s very dodgy ground.
Would agree with Dave, the sword has two edges because British clubs are just as guilty of exploiting foreign kids, look at Man City and Chelsea for the biggest examples. FIFA shouldn’t allow any children to be uprooted or exploited in this way but FIFA is imho a gravy train for the elite so perhaps this type of behaviour shouldn’t be as shocking. If you look at how many clubs have come to the conclusion that academies are a waste of money because the players they develop can be moved for a paltry amount in compensation, we will probably get £230,000 in compensation, it costs a lot to develop these one off players and when you multiply that by all that don’t make it…
It seems to me that the only fair way to compensate clubs for the loss of youth team players under 18 is to guarantee 50% of any sell on fees earned as well as a minimum payment for the academy expenses.