West Ham takeover talk grows
West Ham today signed Manchester United forward David Bellion on a season-long loan as talk of a takeover at the east London club grew.
Bellion broke his leg in May and is at least a month away from full fitness but Hammers boss Alan Pardew is confident the 22-year-old Frenchman can help the Premiership newcomers stay in the top flight this season.
Pardew, whose search for a striker will go on despite Bellion's arrival, said :``He has been troubled with injuries over the last two seasons but we are satisfied they are all cleared up now.
"Outside Manchester United we consider we have the best backroom staff in the game. So I am confident we can give him all the support he needs."
West Ham began life back in the Barclays Premiership with a convincing 3-1 defeat of Blackburn on Saturday and the club's hopes of a bright new dawn will have been further boosted by the comments of Kia Joorabchian, the Iranian-born, English-educated head of London-based consortium Media Sports Investment, who gave notice of a bid for the Hammers earlier this month.
Joorabchian today told the London Evening Standard he has not made a bid yet - but it is only a matter of time.
"My West Ham project has to be worth around £200m," he said. "That's £45m on buying the club, £30m on its debts, another £30m on keeping the cash-flow going and around £100m on new players.
"There is no point in buying West Ham unless you are going to turn them into one of the top teams in the country. There is huge potential there and at one point we are going to make a bid, although at the moment we have not done anything.
"The fact that I want to buy a European club is obvious and there is still a possibly it could be another Premiership club other than West Ham."
West Ham chief executive Paul Aldridge says that as a plc, the club are duty-bound to notify their shareholders if they receive a realistic bid but, up until now, that has not happened.
Meanwhile Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson believes Bellion's move to Upton Park will help him become a better player.
Bellion made only 40 first-team appearances and scored nine goals in two seasons at United after they bought him, via a transfer tribunal, from Sunderland for £2m.
Ferguson said: "It is similar to Keiran Richardson (who went on loan to West Brom last season). He needs match experience.
"Playing in the Premiership will be very beneficial to him and I'm sure he will come back to Manchester United a better player."
Bellion was touted as one of the hottest properties to come out of France when Sunderland signed him on a Bosman free transfer from Cannes in 2003.
But United snapped him up a year later after he refused to sign a new contract at the Stadium of Light, and Sunderland chairman Bob Murray accused the Old Trafford giants of going behind his back to sign the player.
"David is in the same mould as several other young players we have developed in recent years," Pardew explained.
"The club has enjoyed outstanding success with players like Matthew Etherington, Nigel Reo-Coker, Anton Ferdinand and Mark Noble.
"David is 22 and will reinvigorate the right-hand side of our attack and give me a whole new set of options. He is the sort of player that can break a deadlock with his pace as he is without question one of the quickest players in the Premiership.
"We are not in the position to compete financially with Chelsea and Manchester United yet, but step by step, we are rebuilding West Ham into a club that can compete with the very best."
Pardew admitted he is still looking to sign a striker and said: "It may go to the wire as far as the transfer deadline is concerned, but I am determined not to buy a player just for the sake of it."
West Ham have already missed out on attempts to recruit Milan Baros from Liverpool, Peter Crouch from Southampton, Emmanuel Adebayor from Monaco and former Hammer Fredi Kanoute, who today joined Sevilla for £4.4m.
Pardew said: "We have to keep our cool and make sure we get the right player, someone who brings an extra dimension to the abilities of Teddy Sheringham, Bobby Zamora and Marlon Harewood."
