You're on the board at West Ham and staring relegation in the face, what do you do?

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West Ham United have agreed a 3½-year deal with Manchester City to sign Joleon Lescott as they battle against relegation.

West Ham agree £90,000-a-week for Lescott
Main man: Manchester City's Joleon Lescott battles with Liverpool's Luis Suarez Photo: AFP

By Jason Burt, Football Correspondent
11 Jan 2014

However the move may collapse because Manchester City are adamant they will not release the England international until after Jan 20 and West Ham are unsure they can wait another week, despite a 2-0 victory at relegation rivals Cardiff City on Saturday.

It is also unclear whether Lescott wants to move to West Ham and face a survival fight or wait to see if offers come in from other clubs such as Tottenham Hotspur and Newcastle United.

The 31-year-old has six months left on his contract at the Etihad and wants to secure regular first-team football as he battles for a place in England’s squad for the World Cup in Brazil.

West Ham are believed to have agreed a deal with City a week ago matching Lescott’s wages of £90,000 a week for the rest of this campaign and then agreeing to pay the central defender £70,000 a week for another three years even if they are relegated.

West Ham’s commitment of more than £12 million in wages for Lescott is brave given the very real prospect the club could go down, but he is regarded as someone who could save them from the drop and provide leadership.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/fo...-to-take-Joleon-Lescott-for-90000-a-week.html
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They wouldn't have an easy time selling him on afterwards if things don't work out, the buyer would have to fund the fee as well as what remained of the contract right?

Assuming PL experience as a requirement in this instance, can you name any likely loans or outright purchases of defenders who would represent better value than Lescott?
 
It's difficult to know who's available. And to be honest, a panic buy like this may be necessary to secure safety. They'll be stuck with him on high wages, yes, but what price do you put on Premier League football? The chance you have to take. I'd be happy for United to go out and panic buy a midfielder to be honest.
 
I think Lescott would be a fantastic buy for West Ham, to be honest. Realistically, for a club the size of West Ham, £70,000 per week isn't a huge salary in the modern Premier League either.

Also, as KC pointed out, if he helps sort out their leaky defence and ultimately helps to keep them up, you really can't put a price on that contribution.
 
Certainly when Curbishley was in charge they threw money at the problem and it worked out, which is to say that they secured survival [although Martin O'Neill isn't around to give them daft money for Reo-Coker these days].
 
Buy more Downings and Carrolls. Only thing missing is Henderson but he seems to have picked up some form recently so not sure if he still counts.
 
They already took Roger Johnson in on loan. Having Lescott there has the potential to work out as one of the best defences in the league. They've been having trouble for a long time playing fullbacks in the center and even ending up having them injuried - so this is a must if they want to survive.
 
I'd also presume there is a relegation clause in his contract, where his wages would drop a percentage.....if not then it is Chris Samba all over again.

Experienced, and a decent enough CB. It is an improvement on what they have.
 
Lescott will not suddenly guarantee them safety, they haven't put a release clause in his wages, I just don't see the motivation for him once he's signed.

There's even word of them rewarding Cole with a new bumper contract, OK his last few games haven't been awful, but this is a player they chose to release not long ago..
 
Way too long of a deal for a 31 year old. Especially at those wages. Taking him on at all on these wages would be desperate, albeit an improvement on their squad, but now they're stuck with him for 3,5 years.

As long as players are English it seems they are easy to pass on.
 
At this stage of this sort of season, you would imagine such a signing has wage clauses linked to relegation. I doubt they'd be giving him 90k in the Championship, not would I be surprised if City were paying some of it.
 
Snow said:
Way too long of a deal for a 31 year old. Especially at those wages. Taking him on at all on these wages would be desperate, albeit an improvement on their squad, but now they're stuck with him for 3,5 years......
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It's long if you think he wont perform during those 5 years. I seriously doubt that will be the case
 
It's a pretty massive contract to commit to when the player is going to be thirty two at the start of next season and he'll have three years at £90k left.
 
West Ham's owners are so committed to the club and really want to do the right thing but they desperately need to appoint a competent CEO who actually knows how to run a football club.
 
I suppose a relegation clause could be tied in with the 20,000 reduction in wages upon the completion of the current season [but that sill leaves them with a financial commitment approaching £12.5m over the course of the contract],
 
Red Indian Chief Torn Rubber said:
It's long if you think he wont perform during those 5 years. I seriously doubt that will be the case
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You think he'll perform at the worth of 70k per week at 34? He's not as good now as Rio was when Rio was 33. Lescott isn't the model specimen of a fit player either. He's been injured a lot at City. He'll fit in with Carroll, Downing and Joe Cole then.
 
They won't go down. For all his faults, Allardyce knows how to keep teams in the league.
 
Yeah, they won't go down but they'll have a 32-year old Lescott who might not necessarily be good enough for Premier League football when he's 34 or 35.
 
Lescott is a good player, but those wages are bonkers for a club like West Ham. They need to be widening their net, surely they could get in three very very good players for 90k a week.
 
Experience is so overrated especially if the players in question have won everything (or a lot) there is to win and are looking for their last pay check. Moving from City to West Ham is a great hit to morale and such thing will affect the other players especially if the player in question is paid much more then them. Not to forget that big clubs tend to be lead by great managers so if someone like SAF/Wenger/Pellegrini/Mourinho have decided to let an experienced players go, then there must be a reason behind it.

Honestly I wouldn't sign these type of players unless the deal is too good to be true (ex P Neville at Everton). Take United as an example. Its not as if the likes of Butt, Park and OShea has covered themselves in glory once they left the club.

If a small club is destined to go down then Id rather do it with young players whose got the hunger to fight for every game and would have a great resale value then a has been who will be playing for your club while thinking of the better days elsewhere.
 
Hahaha, the foreign mastermind Samuel Allardici. Winner of the premiership with Manchester Utd and La Liga with both clubs, Real and Barca. The bargain hunting genius that scooped up unknown talent from other big clubs noses: Carroll, Downing and now Lescott. Can this man be bettered?

No one wake him up!
 
Snow said:
You think he'll perform at the worth of 70k per week at 34? He's not as good now as Rio was when Rio was 33. .
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He has never been as good as Rio. But he is good enough to be a top center back for midtable or relegation threatened side. I have no qualms that he will be excellent for West Ham. Just like he was for Everton.
 
Makes more sense than last year's Samba deal, at least.

West Ham just need their defenders not to be injured, though, and to sign a fecking striker.
 
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