West Ham only if all else fails for Batshuayi

I see the guy writing Claret & Hugh is attempting to put a positive spin on the Batshuayi story by going with the headline, Irons have edge over Spurs on striker, the reality is somewhat different though.

West Ham only if all else fails for Batshuayi


The Hammers are only in the third qualifying round of the UEFA Europa League and seem not yet to have realised that players want guaranteed European football, not the possibility of it if a club makes it through qualifying and then the play=off round.

Equally a player who wants UEFA Champions League football doesn't sign for a Europa League side until he is sure a Champions League club are not going to sign him. If it is a choice between Tottenham and West Ham then there isn't a choice to make, it's Tottenham every time for ambitious players.

That isn't a reflection on the clubs it is simply the fact that Tottenham has guaranteed UEFA Champions League to offer, West Ham only has the hope of UEFA Europa League to offer. If West Ham starts qualifying regularly for the UEFA Europa League then they will become a stepping stone club for players who see themselves playing for a top club, they'll use West Han to get there.

Their fans won't like that, we have had to endure that ourselves, which is why we must now start qualifying fir the UEFA Champions League on a regular basis. Just as West ham are looking to take the leap to where we have been for the last ten years so we are looking to make the leap to where Arsenal or Chelsea have been for the last ten years.

We as fans can blind ourselves, we can give it the bluster and pretend we are what we are not, the reality is somewhat different than the emotionally led fan perceives. Claret and Hugh will just have to get used to that.

We have agreed moves with countless players who haven't signed, they have waited for Champions League sides to explore their options first. Michy Batshuayi will only sign for West Ham if and when the option of Champions League football is taken away from him, then and only then will he use them as a fallback option.

That is the reality of the situation.