West Ham United have caused a stir this week after shock links to Manchester United outcast Alexis Sanchez.
A report from Italian website FC Inter News has linked West Ham with an ambitious move for the Inter Milan loanee in the next transfer window.
Claret & Hugh quoted a ‘senior inside source’ at West Ham when revealing the focus was on signing a strike partner to get the best out of Sebastien Haller.
Then emerged the claims from FC Inter News that West Ham want Sanchez. And that was followed by a report from The Daily Mail which suggested the speculation has legs.
West Ham linked with shock move for Man United outcast Sanchez
West Ham’s hopes of signing Sanchez seemed to take a fatal blow, though, after ESPN claimed the Chilean would not be prepared to take a pay-cut on his mammoth £500,000 per week wages.
But Paul Ince, a man who knows what it is like to play for both West Ham and Manchester United, has backed Sanchez to move to the club where he started his career.
Speaking to Paddy Power, Ince said it would be great business for West Ham and advised Sanchez to make his next move all about playing rather than money.
“This is a make or break summer for Alexis,” Ince told Paddy Power.
Former Hammer Ince backs Alexis move to Irons
“He’s had two moves in a row that have really not gone well. He’s had two seasons of just not playing. Your career goes by so fast, you can’t waste it like that.
“If someone can get him in and play him in the right position, you’ve still got a great player in there.
“If that’s West Ham, who can build their team around him, then it’s a great piece of business.
“Wherever he goes, he has to be playing week-in, week-out. Not just to justify his wage, but for his own career.
“And I am certain that he is desperate to play. I’ve watched him a lot, and it was never for a lack of trying that things didn’t work. Some players are happy to count their money, but that’s not Sanchez – he plays with determination and passion, he clearly loves playing football.
‘Man United loner would be great business for West Ham’
“I know there’s talk about him being a bit of a loner, but that’s fine – some people are like that – it’s about what happens on the pitch, and you can see he’s always trying the right things when he plays.”
The Daily Mail has also suggested that West Ham and David Moyes are Sanchez’s “best bet” of resurrecting his flagging career.
The 31-year-old does not exactly fit Moyes’s recruitment philosophy to build a new-look West Ham around young, hungry players (whufc.com).
But with the futures of Andriy Yarmolenko, Manuel Lanzini, Felipe Anderson, Jack Wilshere and Albian Ajeti in doubt there looks set to be big savings on the wage bill.
Plus the likes of Pablo Zabaleta and Carlos Sanchez leaving is set to free up another £120,000 per week in wages.
Receive a digest of our best West Ham content each week direct to your mailbox
