Ex-Liverpool ace Ryan Babel shares why West Ham United move and swap deal with Carlton Cole didn’t happen many years ago.
Babel, 35, now plays for Eyupspor in Turkey, after a long career in the game with the likes of Liverpool, Fulham and Ajax.
The 69-capped Holland international joined Liverpool in the summer of 2007 for around £11.5 million (Daily Mail).
He never made much of an impact at Anfield though, bagging just 22 goals and 18 assists in 146 appearances for the Reds (Transfermarkt).
And he was eventually moved on to German outfit Hoffenheim in January 2011.
The Dutchman has gone on to play for a whole host of clubs including Deportivo La Coruna, Besiktas, Galatasaray and most recently Eyupspor.
Things seemingly could have been very different for Babel though, had he moved to West Ham…
Ex-Liverpool ace Ryan Babel shares why West Ham move didn’t happen
The now 35-year-old could have played for the Hammers, had he been open to a permanent move to Upton Park.
Babel told Soccer News:
I have been very close to a transfer to West Ham United. There was concrete talk of a swap deal for Carlton Cole, but it didn’t quite go according to plan. I was told it was on loan and that I would return to Liverpool later. But on transfer deadline day I found out that West Ham would buy me, and I didn’t want that at all. Besides, my business manager was not aware of that either. When push came to shove, my business manager and I decided not to do it, so the transfer did not go through.
The cheek of Babel there! Talking like he would have been a big fish in a small pond with West Ham!
He would have been found out very quickly at Upton Park.
He certainly wasn’t good enough for Premier League football in my opinion, in spite of the obvious quality that he showed during the early stages of his career.
Ex-Liverpool ace Ryan Babel has shared why a West Ham move didn’t happen.
I’m pleased that Babel didn’t end up anywhere near the Hammers, and I’m not even sure if what he is saying is 100 per cent correct.
The fact that he mentioned Carlton Cole going to Liverpool makes his claim even more dubious in my opinion!
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