Why Edson Alvarez agreement sums up West Ham strategy, it's cost them massively

Edson Alvarez is just the latest example of shoddy transfer business from West Ham.

The Mexico international has now been dumped out of the World Cup, but can hold his head up high.

He featured in all-but one game for his nation as they reached the round of 16 of their home tournament.

The 28-year-old certainly made his presence known as he caught the eye of local media with his performances.

That impressed many at the London Stadium and had them dreaming of a big-money sale this summer.

Instead, West Ham are set to fall into their old ways as Alvarez sums up what has gone wrong for years in East London.

Edson Alvarez next destination becomes apparent

The defensive midfielder always felt like a risk whenever starting in the Premier League.

David Moyes grew impatient with his lack of discipline and he wasn't afraid to speak out about it.

That frustration then turned to his performances when Julen Lopetegui and Graham Potter went on to manage him.

The latter clearly hadn't been impressed by what he'd seen and loaned him out to Fenerbahce last summer.

That feat looks set to be replicated as Florian Plettenberg reported on Thursday that Alvarez is set to join Koln on loan from West Ham.

An agreement has been reached with the Bundesliga side in principle and now just relies on the midfielder agreeing new wages.

That would see the Mexican become the latest first-team star to depart E20 on loan in a trend that has become massively damaging.

West Ham have lost over £50m thanks to loan exits

There has been plenty of questionable business at the London Stadium over the years.

Incoming transfers have usually faced the brunt of the annoyance, but maybe the outgoing deals should have been watched more closely.

With Alvarez set to depart on loan, he will mark one of eight first-team stars who have gone out on loan since 2020.

That has most recently seen James Ward-Prowse, Niclas Fullkrug, Maxwel Cornet and the Mexican depart, but have remained on the books in East London.

The same can't be said of Nayef Aguerd, Kurt Zouma, Thilo Kehrer, Arthur Masuaku and Felipe Anderson, who all departed on their own loan deals away from West Ham.

They were all eventually sold for a combined fee of £31.1million off the back of their temporary exits.

That marked a £50.1m loss for just those, with Anderson's £2.6m move to Lazio marking the biggest gulf at a loss of £32.4m.

Considering Alvarez signed for £35m in August 2023, he is only likely to follow that trend when he eventually leaves the Irons permanently.