WHZ Top 3s: Worst signings West Ham have made in January transfer window
Welcome to West Ham Zone’s Top 3s series, where we will take look through Hammers history and decide which people or events rank highest with topics as varied as players, managers and goals…
The January transfer window is merely weeks away now as clubs have the chance to bolster their squads midway through the season.
We recently did a list that shows the quality players that West Ham have picked up in winter transfer windows of the past.
Now we take a look at the opposite as there have been plenty of players that the Hammers have wasted millions on in January.
In true Irons fashion, these picks aren’t just bad. They are confusing, frustrating and with the benefit of hindsight, pretty funny.
With hindsight, we can enjoy these atrocious transfers that had many Hammers scratching their heads in the last few years or so.
Here are West Ham Zone‘s top three worst January transfers.
3.) Savio Nsereko – January 2009
Where do you start with Nsereko? He was given the number 10 shirt following Craig Bellamy’s departure when he arrived at Upton Park and my word, how he failed to fill the Welshman’s boots. The forward only made 10 appearances after failing to settle in east London and was sold to Fiorentina in the summer of 2009 as he failed to ever get off the mark for the Irons. He also bizarrely faked his own kidnapping in 2012 so it was probably a good thing that he failed to make a name for himself at West Ham.
2.) Luis Boa Morte – January 2007
Boa Morte signed from Southampton after impressing while on loan at Fulham. The winger then failed to impress during his four-year spell with the Hammers as he only scored two goals in 92 appearances. His time at Upton Park was ravaged by injuries but after recovering he signed a new contract and stated his desire to work with Avram Grant when he was appointed as the new Irons boss. One month later his contract was terminated. You couldn’t make it up.
1.) Benni McCarthy – February 2010
Technically this counts, despite McCarthy actually signing in February. McCarthy signed a two and a half year contract before being ruled out for six weeks after picking up a knock on his debut. One year on, after failing to score for his new club, he was omitted from the Hammers’ Premier League squad and was offered £1million to terminate his contract early. A few weeks later he was gone after making two Premier League starts and scoring no goals in what has to be the worst January signing in the club’s history.
In other West Ham news, Frank McAvennie has given his verdict on a potential move for Olivier Giroud.