Callum Wilson looks set to join West Ham — the same club he once publicly mocked over their only major achievement in more than four decades.
The move is already stirring controversy among fans, many of whom haven’t forgotten Callum Wilson’s many past digs at the Hammers.
Although most were said in jest, the striker is a character who has always rubbed many West Ham fans up the wrong way.
Hammers News revealed overnight that there is just one hurdle to clear before Wilson signs for West Ham.
If that issue can be resolved then Wilson will become Graham Potter’s third signing of the summer transfer window.
How much the Hammers boss or head of recruitment Kyle Macaulay had to do with the deal remains under scrutiny.
West Ham on the verge of making controversial third signing
Wilson is 34 next season and injury-prone. His arrival would jar with Potter’s stated transfer policy and aim to drastically reduce the age of the Premier League’s oldest squad.
It was confirmed by a top spokesman for West Ham’s board that Potter didn’t want to sign any new strikers.
That in itself is a very worrying stance from the manager given West Ham’s lack of options and pace up front.
In some ways it is understandable David Sullivan, in his role as de facto director of football, would push to sign a striker given how competitive the Premier League is going to be.
Few think ageing Wilson is the way to go, though. And the fact he is a client of Sullivan’s preferred agent Will Salthouse is not lost on supporters either.
Many Hammers fans are angry about the potential signing.
And not just because Wilson has been the club’s bogeyman during his career.
The ex Bournemouth and England forward has scored more goals against West Ham than any other club.
Wilson actually has a decent season’s worth of goals purely against the Hammers with 13 strikes to his name when facing the east Londoners.
One of those was scored with his hand for Bournemouth – a moment he described as a ‘touch of magic’ which really antagonised supporters.
It’s not the worst thing he has said when it comes to West Ham, though.
Wilson once mocked West Ham’s only major achievement for 45 years – and now he’s signing for them.
Wilson mocked West Ham winning the Conference League
Hammers fans have had to suffer the ignominy of selling Declan Rice to London rivals Arsenal for the last two years.
West Ham are incessantly goaded by the Gunners over snatching away the homegrown captain.
Now the supporters face a similar situation with Mohammed Kudus joining bitter rivals Spurs.
The Ghanaian is already showing West Ham were wrong to sell him to Tottenham, where many fear he will explode under Thomas Frank.
Meanwhile the sum of West Ham’s ambition is to sign a soon-to-be 34-year-old striker with an injury record longer than his list of goals against them.
And one who belittled the only notable glory the Hammers have tasted in nearly half a century.
West Ham won their first major trophy for 43 years when they lifted the Europa Conference League in 2023.
Imminent Hammers signing belittled Conference League
It meant the Hammers qualified to compete in the Europa League the next season.
At that time Newcastle United went one step further by breaking the so-called “big six” monopoly to finish fourth and make the Champions League.
Newcastle will play in Europe for the 18th time in their history next season while West Ham have had 12 European campaigns – although it would have been more had English clubs not been banned for five years between 1985 and 1990.
Both clubs have won the Intertoto Cup, the Hammers in 1999 and the Magpies in 2006.
Unlike Newcastle, though, the Hammers have two major European trophies to their name having won the European Cup Winners Cup in 1965 and that unforgettable Europa Conference League against Fiorentina in Prague.
Wilson did not rate the achievement, though, as he told friend and in-limbo Hammers star Michail Antonio on the Footballer’s Football Podcast back in 2023.
As an exchange of banter between the duo escalated, Wilson savagely mocked West Ham’s achievement by playfully questioning how meaningful it is and comparing it to winning something on FIFA.
“Michy I’ll let you know what it’s like (playing in the Champions League) because you’re probably never going to get to experience it!” Wilson quipped.
“Where was it you played last year? Majorca? Magaluf?
“Oi come on man (don’t give me that),” Wilson said when Antonio pointed out he has a European trophy.
“I’ve got a European trophy on FIFA as well, it’s the same thing!”
Wilson also ridiculed the fact West Ham were in a Europa League group with the likes of Serbian minnows Topola and German side Freiburg while Newcastle were, unsuccessfully, taking on Milan, PSG and Borussia Dortmund.
In fairness Wilson did offer an olive branch later in the podcast, saying: “I don’t want to be too harsh on West Ham, because it’s only Michail I don’t like, not the West Ham fans!”
Wilson has praised West Ham too
It must be pointed out the comments were just football banter between two friends.
But many Hammers fans are angry the club would go out and sign him for a host of reasons, not only his past comments.
In defence of the striker, Wilson did describe West Ham as a club ‘everyone wants to play for’ in a later exchange with Antonio.
With the deal on the verge of being done there is only one way it will work out.
If Wilson does sign, most West Ham fans will get behind him, as they would any player who wears the claret and blue.
And the only way for the 33-year-old to smooth things over will be to bag goals and prove himself a shrewd acquisition on a free transfer.
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