According to the Sunday Telegraph West Ham are due to complete the signing of Manchester City and England defender Joleon Lescott on a permanent transfer. He is thought to be signing a three and a half year deal on an initial salary of £90,000 a week, dropping to £70k a week from the beginning of next season. The fee is thought to be around £5 million, which for Manchester City is something of a coup, seeing as he’d be available on a free at the end of the season.
However, City apparently won’t release him until after next Saturday’s game, which may scupper the whole deal, bearing in mind our need to bring in another central defender pretty quickly following James Tomkins’ sending off today.
Yes, Lescott may be 31, but he is on the edge of a World Cup place and will be very keen to cement it. He cost Man City £24 million when they signed him from Everton. If we can get him, I think it would be a bit of a coup. Mind you, given a choice I’d prefer Micah Richards, who is an immense player who will never fill his potential at Manchester City.