Reports in the Daily Express that West Ham are paying Alex Song £140,000 per week while on loan seem very wide of the mark.
Express Sport claims “West Ham are paying all of Song’s £140,000–a–week Barca wages, making him the highest–paid player in the club’s history. The wages are in addition to the £3 million loan fee Sullivan and Gold splashed out to bring the player to east London.
Barca signed Song from Arsenal for £15m in 2012 and have told West Ham they want to recoup the entirety of their outlay.”
The suggestion is we will pay £5.6m in wages plus a £3 million loan fee costing us £8.6 million over 40 weeks is quite frankly ludicrous, this would mean Alex Song is costing the Hammers an equivalent of £215,000 per week! The story also claims Barcelona will want the full £15m as a permanent transfer fee.
We could never fit those kind of wages in our Financial Fair Play budget of £60 million per season.
Alex Song is claimed to have earned £55,000 per week at Arsenal, jumping up to £70,000 per week when he joined Barcelona. He is thought to be earning £80,000 per week at West Ham, £60,000 per week less than the Express claim. I also understand there is no loan fee as the Express stated meaning the real cost over the 40 week loan is £3.2 million compared to the £8.6m claim. It is suggested Song could be available for around a £10 million transfer fee at the end of the season.
Don’t believe the hype!