According to the Daily Mail, West Ham are now ‘exploring the possibility’ of a move to sign Jonjo Shelvey – a player believed to be valued at £20m by the Newcastle United.
Rafa insisted that there was ‘no chance’ he’d sell Shelvey just a few weeks ago – and you’d think this stance has only strengthened given the recent injury to Diame and the fact Hayden is still pushing for a move – but you can never trust Mike Ashley when it comes to money.
Here’s what the Daily Mail have said about West Ham’s interest today, stating that Pellegrini would ‘jump at the possibility’ to sign the midfielder this month:
West Ham are exploring the possibility of a move to sign Jonjo Shelvey but are braced to face fierce resistance from Newcastle United.
Manuel Pellegrini, West Ham’s manager, admires Shelvey and would jump at the possibility to bring him to the London Stadium in this window.
The other huge sticking point, however, is that Newcastle boss Rafa Benitez would not sanction the sale of a midfielder, whose value would be in the region of £20million, unless he was able to bring in a suitable replacement.
With three weeks of the window remaining, though, there is a recognition that West Ham will continue to monitor Shelvey’s situation and it could be they end up in a position where they can put pressure on Newcastle.
West Ham appear to be long-term admirers of Shelvey, with it not being a transfer window if they’re not linked with a move to sign him at some point, however one concern now is the fact they seem to be throwing real money at transfer targets.
They spent almost £40m to sign Felipe Anderson over the summer and over £20m on a French U-21 centre-back, so any £20m price tag slapped on Shelvey’s head would be unlikely to off put them.
With Ki at the Asian Cup, Diame nursing a hip problem and no other senior central midfielders at Rafa’s disposal, surely even Mike Ashley wouldn’t be stupid enough to cash in on Shelvey in our current predicament?
They wanted him in the summer also, and he appears to want to leave, so £20m looks about the right money and the only way Rafa will get some funds..
BillyTheFish(Quote)
Pretty straight forward – if we want to stay up we wont sell shelvey
Brrrian(Quote)
Wouldnt be that stupid would he…..
Yeah right…!
Peter henderson(Quote)
He doesn’t even get in the Newcastle team anymore ❓ . Time to come home to your boyhood club, Jonjo.
Once a Hammer, always a Hammer. ⚒
SoupPlate(Quote)
Hayden has made it plainly obvious that he wants to leave so get shot of him ASAP.
No point having a player in the team who doesnt want to be there just causes disruption within the Squad.
Allan(Quote)