Hammers audacious Real Madrid raid

West Ham United were certainly linked with an incredible array – over 100 at the last count – of frontmen in the January window. Replacements for Antonio and Fullkrug were sought from domestic and international leagues and the Hammers finally got Potter’s man in Evan Ferguson with the deadline day loan sorting the problem  for now.

One of the more audacious attempts to bring in an attacker from La Liga concerns Real Madrid’s Brazilian teen prodigy Endrick who was apparently the subject of West Ham’s attentions. Reported …“West Ham were one of the clubs who tried to land the 18-year-old and made contact with the Spanish giants. The Hammers also made contact with Endrick’s representatives, however, their approach fell flat. Unfortunately for West Ham, Real insisted that they had no desire to allow Endrick to leave the Santiago Bernabeu.”

Full marks for flair and audacity.

No doubting the player’s quality, his manager Carlo Ancelotti’s summed him up as”A proper striker, especially dangerous in tight spaces.”

The report does not, however, detail exactly how West Ham planned to pay for the deal to land the 18 year old mini-superstar: On rebuttal, West Ham did go onto bid £57 million for Duran from Aston Villa, payable on the ‘never-never’ so presumably that was the plan behind the Endrick approach.

Hardly surprising that Real Madrid weren’t interested then.