Paul Merson names ex-West Ham player he ‘couldn’t believe’ Irons sold to PL rival
Paul Merson has claimed that he “couldn’t believe” West Ham decided to let go of former defender James Tomkins when they did.
The Hammers sold the centre-back to Crystal Palace in 2016 for a fee of around £10.5 million, as per Transfermarkt, but the Sky pundit has admitted that was dumbfounded by the decision at the time.
The 30-year-old had a starring role in the Eagles’ unlikely 2-2 draw against Manchester City on Saturday afternoon, catching the eye alongside Gary Cahill at the heart of defence.
Speaking about the match after the final whistle on Soccer Saturday (Sky Sports News, 17.25, January 18th), Merson said: “Tomkins has become a much better player.
“Tomkins was good, I couldn’t believe West Ham let him go, but he’s become a better player.”
Does Merson have a point here?
This seems like a bit of a random one from Merson, the unofficial king of the analytical bolt from the blue, but you’d have to say that he has a point.
Crunching the numbers, we can see that Tomkins was actually doing pretty well for the Hammers prior to being moved on.
In his last season in East London, for instance, he managed 2.5 tackles and 2.1 interceptions per match, as per Whoscored, as well as four clearances.
In the season before that, he was averaging 9.5 clearances and a Whoscored rating of 7.40 – the best form of his career.
When you consider that, it does seem a little strange that the Hammers decided to sell, but it was the best part of four years ago now, and it still seems like a weird thing for Merse to bring up so long after the event.
In other news, ‘Terrible’ – These West Ham fans slam ‘atrocious’ Hammer in draw v Everton.