There has not been much to celebrate for West Ham over the last year or so – on or off the pitch – and it has cost jobs.
West Ham majority owner David Sullivan has been in the firing line.
After all it was he who opted to replace David Moyes with Julen Lopetegui.
And it was ultimately Sullivan who let the Spaniard and Tim Steidten oversee West Ham’s expensive summer rebuild.
That squad overhaul simply has not worked out for the Hammers.
Although Graham Potter is now trying to salvage something from the wreckage.
It seems increasingly clear that West Ham may have over-extended themselves with the £155m splurge.
West Ham’s £69m deal with Barclays to get access to transfer money owed to them ahead of time was a risky move.
Hammers leave themselves short after splurge
A move which has West Ham admitting this summer’s budget is ‘minimal’.
PSR restrictions mean the Hammers will have to ‘be creative’ to make signings in the next window.
That essentially means players will have to be sold to fund arrivals.
There is nothing unusual about that of course. The Premier League’s richest clubs are having to do the same thing, so West Ham are not exempt.
Instead of slowly, gradually building on recent success and growth under Moyes, though, West Ham tried to do it all in one fell swoop with a 21-player overhaul.
Some of the blame for that sits at Moyes’ door. It was the Scot who insisted he preferred working with a smaller squad after all.
And he failed to build up the team around young, hungry players – as he had pledged – leaving West Ham with the smallest and second oldest squad in the Premier League.
Rolls Royce West Ham star making Sullivan happily eat his words
Steidten was sent packing for his role in trying to fix those issues.
The German led recruitment and was hailed a hero as West Ham signed nine players in one of the most exciting windows in the club’s history.
Reality did not live up to expectation this season, though.
Especially for one player in particular.
Jean-Clair Todibo was one of West Ham’s star summer captures. But he blew hot and cold under the former manager and has proved to be injury-prone.
There have also been question marks over Todibo’s attitude after a bust-up with Potter’s predecessor.
Lopetegui even admitted he punished Todibo over their much-publicised altercation.
There has been incessant speculation the French defender wanted out of West Ham and could be sold by the club both in January and ahead of the summer.
West Ham chief bemoaned looming Todibo fee
Especially after unflattering remarks from the co-owner Sullivan.
Now the Rolls Royce West Ham star is making Sullivan happily eat his words.
Todibo signed on loan with an obligation to buy which was triggered after five Premier League starts – providing West Ham stayed up.
It means West Ham must now pay Nice £32m from this summer’s budget.
A budget which is already tight.
Juventus, the club West Ham beat to sign Todibo, and Marseille were linked with him again in the winter window.
Man United, who were blocked from signing Todibo by UEFA, have also been linked ahead of the next window.
West Ham star Todibo starting to show his class
Back in January, Sullivan said the Todibo deal ‘has hurt’ West Ham when explaining the rationale behind the £57m bid for Jhon Duran.
He stated that the money was made available for the Duran bid because it made sense long term.
But he could not hide his disappointment that the Hammers had the big Todibo bill looming too.
“(Money is there) ONLY if deals make sense,” Sullivan was quoted as saying.
“We were buying our striker for next season, spending money under FFP that we do not have.
“We are committed to buying Todibo and that’s hurt us.”
But Todibo has put all the talk behind him to show just what he is capable of under Potter.
The former Barcelona defender has been imperious in West Ham’s first back-to-back wins for a year against Arsenal and Leicester.
Many felt his game and Potter’s style of play would complement each other well.
Todibo has played in all seven of West Ham’s clean sheets
And so it has proved thus far with fans feeling things can only get even better.
In fact it has emerged that of West Ham’s seven clean sheets this season – Todibo has played in every single one.
That is a brilliant record given he has played only 17 of West Ham’s matches.
Rather than that £32m looking like a millstone around West Ham’s neck, it could very soon start to look like a bargain.
It certainly has Sullivan eating his words that the deal has “hurt” West Ham.
But the Hammers chief is happy to do just that.
A spokesman for West Ham’s owners confirmed again last week that the Todibo money will come out of this summer’s budget.
However, that is now seen as a sound investment and not a blow with Sullivan delighted the 24-year-old has “finally started to show how good he is”.
Potter has been easing Todibo back in following his injury at the start of the year.
The stronger he gets the better he will be and that’s an exciting prospect for everyone at West Ham.
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