Micah Richards baffled by West Ham United transfer link mentioned live on BBC

Micah Richards was quick to shoot down suggestions West Ham would benefit from signing Jordan Henderson in the January transfer window.

Henderson is eager to return back to the Premier League, just six months after making the move to Saudi Arabian side Al Ettifaq from Liverpool [Daily Mail].

Speaking on BBC's Monday Night Club [8 January, 1hr 6m 50s], journalist Rory Smith asked if West Ham would be a good fit for Henderson.

Ex-Manchester City player Richards responded with: "He's not going to play, though. They've got Edson Alvarez and James Ward-Prowse.

"They are unbelievable in the centre of the park. Henderson's a top player, but he's moved on; his best years are behind him."

Spot on

This is a transfer rumour that first emerged last summer, at which point West Ham fans were slightly more open to it.

Henderson was a great servant for Liverpool, captaining them to numerous trophies, and was seen as a decent stop-gap replacement of sorts for Declan Rice.

Thankfully, though, West Ham got their transfer business spot on by signing Alvarez and Ward-Prowse. Neither came cheap, but they are on their way to justifying the large fees.

When you add Tomas Soucek into the mix, there are three fine pure central midfielders for David Moyes to choose from right now.

That is not to say United will not want to strengthen, but it is certainly not a priority. If Henderson is happy to play a back-up role, this would be a signing that made sense.

However, you get the impression he wants to return to the Premier League to play more regularly, and that simply is not going to happen at London Stadium.

In other West Ham news, Rio Ferdinand has made a "big money" exit prediction regarding a first-team regular.