Brazil star Raphinha will fill David Sullivan with regret as he faces fresh questions over a major clanger which may have set West Ham back years.
West Ham fans and David Sullivan will remember Raphinha all too well.
The Hammers made a £50m move for Raphinha when he was ripping up the Premier League with Leeds.
West Ham actually lodged a double bid for the attacker and his then Leeds teammate Kalvin Phillips – who did end up in east London eventually, in that disastrous loan deal last season.
Sullivan was accused of ‘phantom bids and faux ambition’ by Simon Jordan and some Hammers fans when West Ham bid for Brazil star Raphinha three years ago.
The move failed to materialise and Lucas Paqueta’s Brazil teammate went on to be sold to Barcelona instead.
Raphinha has had his struggles at the Camp Nou.
In fact just last year, Spanish outlet Mundo Deportivo reported Raphinha was once again the subject of interest from West Ham.
Again that failed to materialise and West Ham spent £155m elsewhere to fund a new era under Julen Lopetegui and technical director Tim Steidten.
Raphinha haunts Hammers with new claim
But that was not even so much as a flash in the pan let alone an era.
Lopetegui lasted just 192 days to become West Ham’s shortest serving permanent manager in their 130-year history.
Steidten, allegedly in control of the entire football operation for that solitary summer, was also sent packing back in January.
Lopetegui made way for Graham Potter, who is already facing intense pressure with West Ham going backwards during the first three months of his tenure.
Lopetegui was sacked with the Hammers in 13th. And although West Ham have tightened up defensively, they now sit 17th with five games to go – and thanking their lucky stars that the bottom three have been as bad as they are.
Resentment from fans towards the board has bubbled back to the surface again after a relatively serene period due to the success of the team under David Moyes.
The replacement West Ham brought in for the Scot last summer was always going to be one of the biggest decisions Sullivan has made in his 15 years at the club.
By his own admission it was one he and the board got horribly wrong.
Now Raphinha will leave West Ham chief Sullivan having sleepless nights over a clanger of epic proportions.
West Ham’s owners candidly admitted they over-stretched themselves to back Lopetegui and Steidten last summer.
The Hammers’ hierarchy – already rueing the loss of income from European football – has also conceded that the drastic under-performance of the team this season has cost the club millions too.
There is around a £20m shortfall in merit payments compared to the club’s expectations of at least a top 10 finish.
West Ham have also earned far less this season from televised game bonus payments.
The team also went out of both domestic cups in the third round – one on Lopetegui’s watch and the other when Potter had only taken one training session.
It could – and should – have been very different, though.
Raphinha leaves Sullivan having sleepless nights over epic clanger
And it will surely go down as one of the biggest regrets of Sullivan’s entire career in football.
Speaking openly about his time at Barcelona this week, Raphinha has admitted that he was indeed set to leave the club last summer after those links with the likes of West Ham.
But the reason he stayed and has turned his entire Barca career around to reach new heights is the man who could have been, should have been and very much wanted to be West Ham’s manager less than a year ago.
That man is Hansi Flick.
Former Bayern Munich and Germany boss Flick was very much was ‘in the frame’ for the West Ham job after Moyes.
Flick had even attended matches at the London Stadium to assess the team in Moyes’ last few games after talks in the background with Sullivan and co.
Super agent Pini Zahivi was brokering a £20.5m deal to bring Flick to the London Stadium.
Speaking exclusively to Hammers News last May, Football Correspondent Graeme Bailey revealed the reason Sullivan snubbed Flick in favour of Lopetegui.
West Ham’s simply unfathomable Flick snub
“I understand that during the search for the new head coach – David Sullivan was made aware via an intermediary he is close to that Hansi Flick was available, within his price range and was keen,” Bailey told Hammers News at the time.
“Let’s remember this was when Xavi had confirmed he was staying put and Barcelona was not even a pipe dream.
“However, despite talks – I am told Sullivan did not think that Flick’s CV was right for West Ham and was not convinced he was the right man.”
Instead Barcelona appointed Flick amid similar doubts among fans of the Catalan giants.
But he is now on course to lead Barcelona to the La Liga title, has them in the Champions League semi-finals and the Copa Del Rey final, where they will face rivals Real Madrid this weekend.
Flick has been nothing short of a revelation at Barcelona, who have been a mess financially for several years and were in disarray under legend Xavi.
Now Raphinha has made Sullivan regret his lamentable Flick snub even more, saying Barcelona’s phenomenal turnaround is all down to the German taskmaster.
Raphinha credits man who wanted West Ham with saving Barca
“The truth is, for me, it (Flick’s appointment) changed practically everything,” Raphinha told DAZN.
“As I’ve said on other occasions in interviews, I was leaving the club before the season even started. The manager was incredibly important in my change of mind, in my ability to stay at the club.
“He gives me all the confidence possible to do everything I’m doing.
“For me, as I’ve said, it’s changed everything. It’s practically changed my career. I’m having my best, my best career since I started in football, and I owe it all to him.”
West Ham fans, let alone Sullivan, will be struggling to sleep at night knowing what might have been had Flick got his wish to come to the Premier League as Moyes’ successor.
A sickening sliding doors moment for West Ham if ever there was one.
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