West Ham owner David Sullivan has pleaded poverty in an interview with Talksport, listing limited funds as a reason for the club’s lack of signings during this summer’s transfer window.
The interview was conducted by Jim White, who has shared a close relationship with Sullivan in the past, leading the presenter to stick up for the West Ham board over issues such as the controversial sale of Grady Diangana.
The 71-year-old bemoaned the fact that the club is losing out on money due to the coronavirus pandemic, saying:
“We’ve also got the fact that we’re possibly not going to get any gate money all season, and we’ve got to keep the club afloat, we’ve got to pay the wages.”
“Unfortunately the benchmark is high & it’s hard to get the players.”
— talkSPORT (@talkSPORT) September 23, 2020
“We chased dreams the last two years & bought a pile of players.”
“I can’t buy players Moyes doesn’t want. I did that with Diop & Fabianski!”#WHUFC’s David Sullivan discusses the club’s transfer strategy ⚒ pic.twitter.com/UUUSlToyC7
This has irked the West Ham fanbase, with other clubs in the Premier League not falling back on this excuse as the likes of Newcastle United and Aston Villa have invested significantly in their respective squads – the latter who finished behind the Hammers in last season’s standings.
Sullivan went on to suggest that manager David Moyes has full control over transfer dealings, despite reports in the past about the owner’s incessant meddling in such matters. He said: “I can’t go and sign two or three players that the manager doesn’t want.
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“I could quite simply tomorrow go and buy two or three players but we’d have a civil war at West Ham because I don’t pick the players. That’s not how it works at West Ham.”
He then added words to which every Hammers fan will sigh. “I cannot say for sure we’re going to sign anybody. As each day passes I get more depressed. I’m not Roman Abramovich.”
He continued to explain that dealings were the same under Pellegrini, all the while contradicting himself in the process by stating that he did, in fact, pick two players during his tenure.
“Under the previous regime, the only two players I picked were (Issa) Diop and (Lukasz) Fabianski.”
Of course, these just so happen to be two of the more successful buys under Pellegrini’s reign.
Sullivan also touched on the sale of Diangana, stating that he has no regrets about his departure.
“It was a decision made because we have eight wingers. We’ve got some wonderful wingers who are not in the team. Robert Snodgrass, Anderson who is a wonderful player, Yarmolenko who scored two and had two assists last night. Unfortunately, we have just got a very unbalanced squad.”
It is a mystery to every West Ham supporter as to why Sullivan thought it was a good idea going onto Talksport to do this interview as, if anything, it has only made the fanbase even angrier than it already was.
After hearing the @JimWhite interview with David Sullivan on @talkSPORT this morning, are you more or less annoyed with the board?
— Hammers Polls (@HammersPolls) September 23, 2020
🗳🔁💬
Keep digging that grave, Mr Sullivan.
In the meantime, West Ham are recovering after 5-1 victory in the League Cup against Hull City and will start to prepare for their Sunday fixture against Wolves.