Paolo Di Canio named cult hero as the West Ham teammate he respected most

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Hammers legend Paolo Di Canio once named a cult hero as the West Ham teammate he respected the most.

Paolo Di Canio played for a host of top clubs during his career.

But he is best remembered for his time at West Ham, where he cemented his place as a club legend.

Di Canio goes down as one of – if not the – best players in West Ham’s modern history. Certainly of the Premier League era.

Despite his brilliance on the pitch, Di Canio’s time at West Ham ended – regrettably – with relegation and an enforced sale to Charlton.

It was West Ham where Di Canio truly made his name, though. He left an ever-lasting impression on the Hammers. And the same was true of the club on the Italian – who sports a West Ham tattoo on his arm.

But which player left the biggest impression on the Hammers legend?

Well Di Canio named a cult hero as the West Ham player he respected the most.

That man is Stuart Pearce.

“Ah Stuart, he’s a fantastic guy,” Di Canio said when speaking on talkSPORT last year.

“To be honest, Stuart is an icon in Italy.

“When I speak to my friends that followed English football, eight out of ten talk about not Thierry Henry, with the greatest respect to him, but Stuart Pearce because he was great.  When he used to play at Nottingham Forest when he was young and at West Ham I was lucky to meet him.

“Not only was he a great footballer but he was a fantastic man as well which was much more important for me.”

Di Canio played with some fantastic, skilful footballers during his spell at West Ham.

But it shows you what a man, player and character Pearce was that he is the one Di Canio respects above any other.

Pearce really was a true warrior who has since served the club on two separate occasions as an assistant manager to David Moyes.

He only made 50 appearances for the Hammers in the twilight of his career.

But he was hugely influential.

One of Pearce’s most memorable performances undoubtedly came in a win over Watford in 1999.

The victory lifted West Ham up to third in the fledgling table. But the game was remembered for Pearce playing on with a broken leg.

Pearce suffered the break in a challenge on the halfway line with Micah Hyde. It came just a week after making an international comeback at the age of 37.

The crack of the challenge was audible at Upton Park. Amazingly, “Psycho” managed to carry on for a couple of minutes until half-time after receiving treatment.

Hammers boss of the time Harry Redknapp said: “Stuart tried to come back for the second half. He put his boot back on and said `I’ll give it a go’. What an amazing character. He tried so hard to put his weight on the leg, but there was no way. Even he can’t run off such a bad injury.”