West Ham: Summer signing investigated; police presence requested; Vardy nearly joined

By Sam Leveridge

The Daily Mail claim that West Ham are looking into the deal which brought left-back Arthur Masuaku to London from Greek club Olympiakos as club officials have discovered that they may have overpaid by as much as £1 million in fees to an agent who is not named in the official transfer document. As part of their investigations, the club has sent an investigator to Athens to find more details about the deal, with the Greek club surrounded by corruption allegations which have seen their owner involved in match fixing allegations.

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The 22-year-old Frenchman has been impressive since his signing, calming fears of how the team would cope without Aaron Cresswell after the former Ipswich defender picked up a knee injury in pre-season. That said, the club do not want to have paid an inflated transfer fee, and will be hoping that they can get some of the money back if the £6.2 million deal is not all above board as would be expected.

After crowd trouble continued to spill over between both sets of fans at Saturday’s tie between the Hammers and Watford at the London Stadium, the club has confirmed that they met with the stadium’s owners yesterday to discuss improvement to stewarding and security, and to request a police presence in the ground, something currently prohibited. The club announced:

“Whilst West Ham United do not hold the Safety Certificate (this is held by stadium operators LS185) or control the security at the stadium, the club is doing everything possible within its jurisdiction to help provide a safe and enjoyable environment for all supporters… Today, the club have insisted that E20 guarantee a police presence in the Stadium. In addition, the club have also specified a number of essential important improvements to match day operations… E20 confirmed today that immediate action is being taken on the issues raised.”

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Both fans and the club itself will be hoping to resolve the issue and eradicate any poor behaviour and violence as they seek to boost attendances in their new home. With a much increased capacity and cheaper tickets on offer, club bosses will want to ensure that they can capitalise on the novelty factor of moving into the Olympic Stadium to boost their fanbase and attendances long term.

News has also emerged in the Express that former manager and now England boss Sam Allardyce tried to sign revelation Jamie Vardy for the Irons back in 2012, when the Leicester man opted to sign for the Foxes from Fleetwood. Allardyce reportedly revealed his past intentions to the forward when they met for international duty last week.

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It is hard to imagine that Vardy’s career would have followed the same trajectory if he had opted for a move to Upton Park over the King Power Stadium, but it will leave Hammers fans thinking about what could have been if things had worked out a bit differently…

Featured Image: All rights reserved by Alex Hannam.