• Premier League

West Ham target 'special' striker

Soccernet staff
January 21, 2010
David Sullivan has his eyes on new players for West Ham © Getty Images
Enlarge

West Ham's new owner David Sullivan says that the club have made an offer of £100,000-a-week to a striker who is a ''very special player''.

Despite criticising former owner Eggert Magnusson for his poor financial handling of the Hammers which has seen their debt rise to £110 million, Sullivan is adamant that the player, who is a free agent, is worth it.

"We've offered £100,000-a-week to a player today and we are still not sure we are going to get him," Sullivan told BBC Radio 5 live. "That was a very special player.

"There's no transfer fee involved and he's got the choice of almost every club in Europe. He has played at the highest level. He's down to three clubs and West Ham are the only English club still in the hunt for him.

"We can carry one exceptional player, who would make a difference on that wage, but generally we have to bring the wages down and in the summer we would hope to sign younger players on a fraction of those wages.

"We have a crisis and you have to have a different strategy to what our long-term strategy will be."

Sullivan has reportedly targeted two strikers and a defender this month, with Ruud van Nistelrooy one of the names linked.

"We are trying to sign players because unfortunately we have come in very, very late and we have got a very unbalanced squad," added Sullivan. "We are particularly short of strikers and they are the hardest and most difficult position to fill. That's the short-term objective."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
Close

ABOUT COOKIES

To help make this website better, to improve and personalize your experience and for advertising purposes, are you happy to accept cookies and other technologies.

More Info Here Cookie Choices