Pablo Barrera 13 Apps 2010-2012
Signed after the 2010 World Cup, Barrera starred for Mexico in their defeat of France, a jet-heeled winger he looked to be a bargain when he signed for £4 million. Of course, like many signings West Ham have made on the back of a World Cup, Barrera didn’t settle in England as he was in a struggling side managed by Avram Grant; two things which wouldn’t help anyone.
One of the last games Barrera played was a 3-0 home defeat to Arsenal in which he looked completely out of his depth. Almost straight after this he was linked with a loan move to Real Zaragoza and eventually he made the move in 2012.
Barrera still plays in the Mexican League with UNAM and has 24 caps for his country but despite his obvious talent and promise he never really delivered for West Ham.
Kieron Dyer 2007-2011 17 Apps
Signed from Newcastle for £7 million in 2007, Dyer was a player with obvious talent but he had an absolutely horrendous injury record. It didn’t get any better in his time with West Ham, Dyer suffered a horrendous leg break in only his third game for the club in a League Cup game against Bristol Rovers in 2007 and didn’t play for the club again until January 2009.
Dyer’s main attribute was his pace and after his injury he appeared to have lost a yard of pace and was persistently hampered with niggling injuries demonstrated by how few games he played in his time with the Hammers.
At a time where West Ham were changing their wage structure Dyer is often held up as someone who was a complete waste of money in terms of both wages and transfer fee.
His last contribution to the club was missing a great chance to score in extra time in the League Cup Semi-Final second leg against Birmingham City, West Ham lost and were relegated later that season.
It has been reported that Dyer cost the club £450,000 a game in his time with the club, I think it’s fair to say the club didn’t get much return for their outlay.
Dyer moved to Ipswich, then onto QPR and finally Middlesbrough eventually retiring in 2013.
Frederik Ljungberg 25 Apps (2007-2008)
Signed from Arsenal in the summer of 2007 for £3 million Ljungberg came with a big reputation. He was one of the famous Invincibles and was recognised as a scorer of important goals in his time with the Gunners. Unfortunately the Swede was very underwhelming in the claret and blue, it came to light that he was close to retirement having left the Gunners but agreed to play on because of the generosity of the contract offered by West Ham, one season into a 4 year deal both parties agreed to terminate his contract by mutual consent.
Ljungberg was a player with pedigree but as is so often the case West Ham signed Ljungberg when he was on the way down, rather than on the way up and he didn’t justify either his price tag or his wages.
He went on to play with success in the US and finally retired in 2014 after playing in Scotland China and India.
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