Reflecting on his brief spell as West Ham United chairman from 2006 to 2007, Eggert Magnusson reflected on the difficulty of dealing with contract negotiations and demanding agents.
It is fair to say Alan Pardew does not look back fondly on his time alongside the Icelandic businessman.
Pardew took West Ham United from the Championship to the top-half of the Premier League and even to an FA Cup final during his three years at the helm.
Much to the horror of a certain Paul Konchesky, however, Pardew would be replaced by Alan Curbishley just weeks after Magnusson’s takeover in November 2006.
And, as the Hammers slipped from ninth to 15th in the space of thirteen months, it is fair to say that was a decision which backfired pretty badly. Furthermore, according to The Athletic, West Ham’s wage bill soared as their results dipped. From £11 million at the start of Magnusson’s tenure to £41 million at the end of it.
Speaking on the Dodge Woodall podcast, former Watford captain Troy Deeney knows from experience just how lucrative contract negotiations can be for a player and his representatives.
In just two years, Deeney remembers his weekly salary rising from £5,000 to £50,000 at Vicarage Road.
Troy Deeney explains why he didn’t leave Watford for West Ham United
When former West Ham coach Gianfranco Zola took charge of Watford in the summer of 2012, the affable Italian told Deeney that he was as far down as ninth in the Hornets’ pecking order.
The bullish centre-forward would soon climb that ladder, though.
Deeney scored 20 goals in Zola’s one and only full season at the helm, before netting 25 times in 2013/14. A career-best tally which is made all the more impressive when Watford’s eventual 13th place finish in England’s second tier is factored in.
Deeney recalls West Ham expressing an interest in him at the time. His loyalty would be rewarded in Hertfordshire, though, by his pay packet expanding ten-fold.
“I scored 25 but we finished 14th, 15th [sic, 13th] in the Championship,” Deeney says. “Then, [Aston] Villa, Newcastle, West Ham, Celtic, they were all sniffing around.
“But Watford were like, ‘look, we can’t sell you because we are going for [promotion] next year’. And I was like, ‘you told me that the year before and we ended up finishing [in the bottom half]!’
“It was a bad year. I personally did well but I hate losing games. So, they were like, ‘OK, let’s renew, let’s give you a new contract’.
“So, I went from £5,000-a-week to £21,000, from £21,000 to £50,000 in 24 months.”
Watford’s investment would at least have the desired results. Deeney fired the Hornets to promotion a decade ago, before going on to score 47 Premier League goals at a time when West Ham bounced from ill-fitting centre-forward to ill-fitting centre-forward.
Eggert Magnusson admits West Ham gave ‘ridiculous wages’ during his tenure
Flash forward to the present day, and West Ham removed a number of high-earners from their current wage bill when Michail Antonio, Kurt Zouma, Danny Ings and co saw their contracts expire.
Hammers News have been informed that ‘issues’ remain in terms of the club’s spending power. As such, while they would rather not cash in, Lucas Paqueta could be sold by West Ham in the New Year, albeit only if they received an offer in the region of their £60 million asking price.
Magnusson, who rues the lack of a sporting director during a time when Freddie Ljungberg, Kieron Dyer, Nobby Solano and Craig Bellamy arrived at Upton Park on sizeable wages, knows from experience just how difficult it can be balancing finances with sporting ambition.
“It reached a point where we more or less had players who were similar and on a lot of money. We know we gave players ridiculous money,” he would admit years down the line.
“Quite a number of players also asked for pay rises when we were struggling. Foolishly, we would give it to them. There were so many crazy agents demanding all sorts of money.
“I read an interview about Bellamy being bankrupt and it surprised me. He was a nice guy during my time at West Ham and he also asked for a pay rise. I didn’t give it to him, though!”
