Credit: Imago

Daniel Davis

Tue 7 April 2026 16:10, UK

West Ham United‘s gamble on Pablo clearly hasn’t paid off.

The forward sealed his £20million switch to the London Stadium from Gil Vicente back in January, penning a four-and-a-half-year contract.

But the 22-year-old has endured a nightmare start at the club, having failed to score his first goal in his 10 appearances. As a result, he has already been deemed a waste of money.

His misery continued during the Hammers’ FA Cup quarter-final defeat against Leeds, after the ace was brought on at half-time before missing his spot-kick in the penalty shootout.

Pablo’s future at West Ham is already in doubt, and now, a new claim around the make-up of his transfer fee has raised awkward questions about why the deal happened at all.

How much have West Ham paid for Pablo?

Nuno Espirito Santo will be bitterly disappointed with Pablo’s form, especially after he seemingly failed to take on board simple instructions against Leeds last time out.

That display was, without a doubt, his worst since his move to East London. He is visibly low on confidence, making the wrong decisions and lacking in cutting-edge.

How the deal has transpired off the pitch certainly hasn’t helped matters, either.

According to Claret & Hugh, just shy of £7m of the overall fee has been received by Gil Vicente. While West Ham overpaid, it is not certain where most of the money has gone.

The same outlet has suggested that the bulk has been put toward agent commission and third parties, while Famalicao, who sold Pablo to Gil Vicente, were entitled to roughly £2.6m.

Even with that figure accounted for, approximately £8.7m was not included in the direct club-to-club transaction. Clearly, this is a very poor way to conduct business.

State of West Ham finances questioned

According to West Ham’s 2024-25 accounts, around £18m was splashed out on agent fees alone. In addition, they made a hefty pre-tax loss of £104m, which simply isn’t sustainable.

The layout of the deal to sign Pablo suggests that they are investing too much money in paying agents, which threatens to gain them an unwanted reputation.

This comes at a time when they should be battening down the hatches, not loosening the purse strings. Indeed, revenue is down, free-falling from £270m to £228m.

Financial expert Kieran Maguire also claimed that wages were up by nine per cent, rising from £161m to £176m, proving that the numbers are moving in the wrong direction.

If the reports around the swoop for Pablo are to be believed, they are the latest indication of the financial mismanagement that is unfortunately rife at the very top of the club.

Nuno will surely be very worried indeed.