5 players who should leave West Ham this summer
With the move to the Olympic stadium a few months away, the season winding down, and a bumper new TV deal coming in next year, clubs will be looking to buy the very best talent for the best price. As so often throughout history, if West Ham wants to buy anyone they will first have to sell and here are five players I feel should leave the club in order to either further their careers, or just to earn a bit of money for them.
Doneil Henry- Loan
Henry has all the makings to be a top class defender for the club due to his age and how good his tackling is. However with four centre backs currently playing some of the best form of their careers, Henry needs to go out on loan again somewhere in order to make sure he develops well for a chance to get into West Ham’s team.
Stephen Hendrie- Loan
Hendrie is a very capable left-back who once again has age on his side considering he is only 21. But with current left-back Aaron Cresswell playing so well and on a regular basis, Hendrie chances in the team are limited at best and so, a loan spell somewhere will help his development and allow him to fight Cresswell for his spot in the coming seasons.
Joey O’Brien- Permanent
This is a transfer I have wanted for a while. When O’Brien came into the club, he was part of the ‘Bolton United’ players that had previously been managed by Big Sam at Bolton. In his first two seasons, O’Brien was our best right back which wasn’t saying much considering all he had for competition was Guy Demel. Now, Joey is making mistakes regularly in games and I think he needs to go soon as he is now aged 30 and his best years are behind him.
Enner Valencia- Permanent
Where do I start with this one? In the first half of his debut season, Enner was unstoppable and just played for fun. He faded in the second half due to the whole team performing badly but Enner was a good player at that point. I have no idea what has happened since, but the man is now a shadow of his former self. He has lost a bit of pace, maybe due to his injury when he injured his knee in July 2015, but the man is also as weak as anything. Every game I have seen, he tries to run with a defender and is either muscled off the ball too easily, or he goes down in an embarrassing way to try and win a free kick which never comes. Fans are starting to get annoyed by this so I feel West Ham should cash in on him now while they still can.
Diafra Sakho- Permanent
I know West Ham are looking for a striker this summer and I have named two of this list, let alone the best one we have, but just hear me out. Sakho is a great player; don’t get me wrong, on his day he can be one of the best in the league with his pace, strength and ability to find the net from any angle. A natural born striker. However, recent events have meant that West Ham should sell him now. First off, is the arrest he had in August 2015 where he was bailed for reasons I don’t want to go into. This proves the man is a loose cannon off the pitch and West Ham don’t want to have negative press around the club when they are about to open a new chapter in their history. Second is the way he reacted to being left out of the squad to play Arsenal at Upton Park on 9th April 2015. When the manager leaves a player out, it should make him more determined to prove him wrong and fight for his place. However, Sakho decided to go to the physio’s and say he had a ‘knee injury’ which forced him out of playing, and then took to social media to rant about the decision. To me, this shows the man thinks he is bigger than the team and as such, there should be no place in the squad for him. Cash in while you still can I say.
By Brad Freelove
