13 years ago, West Ham made a club-record transfer for a star player; now, he is once again available.
Declan Rice’s transfer will bring in more than £100 million, and West Ham might be able to retry a 13-year-old move
for the star.
In 2010, West Ham made a player under the age of 18 a club record offer of £16 million.
The performances of the current PSG star as a teenager for Santos in his native Brazil raised the suspicion of
numerous European teams, including The Hammers.
But by submitting a formal bid that summer, they really gained an advantage over the competition. The £16 million
sum was more than double what they had paid for Craig Bellamy, a record signing, three years prior, for £7.5 million.
Santos rejected it, insisting on his £28.4 million release clause as the minimum. They needed the approval of an
investment company that held 40% of Neymar’s rights in order to sell him for less, which led to a situation that
sparked debate for years.
Instead, West Ham acquired striker Victor Obinna on loan from Inter Milan and paid £1 million to acquire 31-year-
old forward Frederic Piquionne from Lyon. Together, they scored 19 goals in a combined 94 games.
Neymar, on the other hand, stayed at Santos for an additional three years before deciding to join Barcelona. I doubt
he had many regrets about playing at Camp Nou rather than Upton Park.
But now that West Ham is expected to get more than £100 million for Declan Rice, perhaps they can atone for their
mistakes from 13 years ago, especially if Neymar is up for grabs this summer.
Transfer guru Fabrizio Romano has claimed PSG are open to letting the 31-year-old leave. He has two years left on
his contract in the French capital.
Romano told the Debrief podcast: “It is true there is interest from Saudi but it’s not something advanced on the
player’s side; it’s not an advanced conversation.
“I have a feeling that as of now Neymar still wants to compete in European football, he wants to fight for a
Champions League title again, and so this is the feeling of those around Neymar [but] we know with Saudis we have
to keep an eye on the situation until the end of the window because for PSG it’s a possibility to let Neymar go.”
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