In the first two parts of this South American series I covered the period 1998 to early 2010 with Javier Margas, Maurico Taricco, Lionel Scaloni,Carlos Tevez, Javier Mascherano, Nolberto Solano, Walter Lopez, Luis Jimenez, Guillermo Franco and Ilan. The last five players bring us in the modern era.
The eleventh player never made an appearance for the first team despite joining West Ham as an under 12 player. He was born in Cali, Colombia, but moved to London as a child and holds nationality of both Colombia and the UK. He was named West Ham Academy Player of the Year for the 2008/09 season and signed his first professional contract in 2010. He was a regular in the Development squad scoring many goals in the U21 Premier League, he also spent time on loan at Football League clubs Notts County, Swindon Town, Dagenham and Redbridge and Oxford United. On 17th August 2012 it was announced that Montaño had signed a two-year contract with Oldham Athletic, with the option of a third year for an undisclosed fee. On 16th December 2013 it was announced that Montaño had been sacked on the grounds of gross misconduct relating to alleged match fixing. Montaño was aslo charged with the rape of a woman in Romford, London. He appeared in court in March 2014.
The twelfth South American was Brian Montenegro who began his career at Paraguayan club Tacuary where where he made 51 appearances and scored seven goals before joining Maldonado. He joined West Ham on 29th August 2011 on a season-long loan contract saying, “I am very excited to come here and play in England, especially for a club like West Ham. I am hoping to get a chance to show the fans what I can do.” Montenegro’s only game came on 8th January 2012 in a 1–0 FA Cup third round away defeat to Sheffield Wednesday. At the end of the season, a new contract was not agreed and he returned to Paraguay. The 21 year old now plays for Paraguayan football club Rubio Ñu in the Paraguayan Primera División.
The unlucky thirteenth South American was Brazilian Wellington Paulista. Born in São Paulo, he started as a youth team player with Juventus-SP. On 11th January 2013 he signed a six month loan deal with West Ham United with an option of a further three years, Paulista said about his move “I think I can do my best here and I am coming to England to prove to everyone that I am one of the best strikers in Brazil and to get better and better” Paulista was a named substitute for two games for West Ham, against Southampton and Reading, but left the club without having made a first team appearance but made several appearances for the U21 team and scoring goals . In 2014 Paulista signed for Brazilian club Sport Club Internacional where he has made 8 appearances scoring 7 goals. His team’s home stadium is being used for the 2014 World Cup, known as “Gigante da Beira-Rio” (or “Riverside Giant”), with a capacity of 56,000. It was used for 5 matches in the group stage and will be used for the Germany v Algeria match in the last 16.
The fourteenth South American is one of the current stars of the World Cup, Mr Pablo Armero, The left back joined Napoli during the 2013 summer transfer window for a reported €4 million.On 31st January 2014, Armero completed his loan move to West Ham United until the end of the season with an option to buy. He played five league games for West Ham before his loan ended. Early indications were good with both the player and manager suggesting he could stay.Speaking in the West Ham matchday programme, Armero said: “The truth is I feel very happy here in England and at West Ham. I am getting more opportunities and more games so it’s going much better now.I’d be happy to stay as I like the football here – it’s quick, it’s lively, it’s physical and for a fast player like me it’s great.Above all I want to keep on showing I am a good player and that the coach can depend on me either as a left back or as a winger.As for the future I don’t know whether I will stay here in England but we will have to see. I want to do a good job, help my team-mates out and I am grateful to West Ham for the opportunity they have given me.” Armero scored for Colombia in the group stage and setup a second goal against Uruguay to help his team through to the quarter finals.
The fifteenth South American is of course Argentine Mauro Zarate who is yet to kick a ball for West Ham who signed earlier this month.
The former Lazio striker was previously loaned by the chairman while at Birmingham. He joined us on a free transfer from Argentine club Velez Sarsfield after he bought himself out his contract. He was sold to Lazio in 2009 for 20 million euros with a buy out clause of 60 million euros. Zárate caused controversy in 2010 when he was photographed apparently giving a fascist salute while watching Lazio lose to Bari among a group of fans, though his spokesman claimed afterwards that the player “did not realise the significance of his gesture” and did not know who Hitler or Mussolini were. Last year Mauro Zarate slammed Lazio president Claudio Lotito after only getting five starts saying “Why have I come home? I needed to feel important, to feel liked – the last days were very hard for me. In November, I had been training for the last time with the team and already I felt no confidence. I had not played a single minute in 15 games.I watched a game and then I went to the bathroom to cry, it’s terrible when they don’t let you do what you want.The blame is on Lotito and a few players, in addition to the coach, it is them who make the decisions.The president failed to meet agreements and did want to pay me. He didn’t want me in his team but would not let me leave either. Lotito hurts the club and devalues the objectives of Lazio.”
Mauro who turned 27 in March scored 19 goals in 29 league games during his second spell at Velez Sarsfield. Lets hope he is a South American Hammer to remember for the right reasons.
Many theories have been given why we target South American players, some libellous conspiracy theories can not be mentioned here but I believe the real reason is they are cheap. Your limited transfer budget goes a lot further in South American but you have to take a gamble whether you end up with the next Carlos Tevez, Sergio Aguero, Luis Suarez, David Luiz, Pablo Zabaleta or Oscar just another Javier Margas.