Director Mark Noble has made West Ham’s transfer plan clear and cites the Chelsea signing of Enzo Fernandez as an example to follow.
West Ham and Chelsea were two of the three biggest spenders in the summer transfer window.
So it is proof – if it were needed – that it is not what you spend but rather how you spend it given both clubs have fallen way below expectations in the Premier League so far this season.
Chelsea blew West Ham and just about every other club in Europe out of the water in the January window as they continued their mammoth £600m splurge under their new American owners.
Meanwhile the Hammers brought in Danny Ings for £15m.
Director Mark Noble makes West Ham transfer plan clear and cites Chelsea signing of Enzo Fernandez as an example to follow
David Moyes was handed full control and final say of West Ham’s transfers on his return to the club back in 2020. Whether Graham Potter has that kind of influence over Chelsea’s dealings is seriously doubtful.
Now Moyes has legendary Hammer Noble in the boardroom as the club’s new sporting director.
West Ham have stated that Noble will ‘work closely in support of manager Moyes, as well as working with the Board of Directors, providing input, advice, and assistance across all aspects of the football operation’.
And the former midfielder will play a key role in transfers, both in terms of recruitment and helping new arrivals settle in.
Now director Noble has made the West Ham transfer plan clear and cites the Chelsea signing of Fernandez as an example to follow.
Chelsea signed young Argentina midfielder Fernandez from Benfica for a British record £106.8m on deadline day last week.
Now in a lengthy interview with The Evening Standard, Noble has dropped a big hint that West Ham will be looking to get more homegrown players into the first team because they simply cannot compete with the likes of Chelsea for those big money transfers.
And Noble cited the Fernandez deal as an example for West Ham to follow – from the Benfica perspective – after the Portuguese club made a whopping £96.8m profit in just five months having picked the midfielder up from River Plate for just £10m last summer.
“We can’t spend that”
“In this role, I’ve found a real affection for working with the academy, and trying to get as many players into the first team as we can,” Noble told The Evening Standard.
“The boy Chelsea signed from Benfica (Fernandez) went there for 15million euros (£10m) and Chelsea had to spend £105m-plus for him. It just shows you that recruiting young players is getting harder and harder.
“You need a Declan Rice from the academy, because we can’t spend that amount on a player, that’s for sure.
“It’s so important to bring the young boys through, because any young English player who plays in the Premier League all of a sudden has a £30m price tag and, for us, that’s fantastic. And it’s nice to know at some point we might not have to spend loads of money if we can bring players through.”
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