Other Hammer Players-To-Be?

Last updated : 10 January 2002 By Mike Reich
Michael Brown of Sheffield United
With Glenn Roeder looking for more players in the transfer market, we take a look at a few of the players rumoured to be making a move to East London in the near future.

First of all, there's Rob Lee. A renowned Hammers supporter, he has been linked to West Ham on and off for years. However, there seems as though there might be some substance to this rumour.

Lee's contract with Newcastle run's out in the summer, and with a long term injury still affecting Steve Lomas, and John Moncur soon to serve a suspension, the midfield could become a real problem. Especially when you also consider current injuries, to both Michael Carrick and Don Hutchison (both short-term nevertheless).

Glenn may decide that we need to bolster the midfield, and therefore offer Lee a contract till the end of next season (when he will be 37) and secure his services now for a small fee. Or he might wait till the end of the season.

Roeder is a known admirer of Lee, and would like to see the player at West Ham. However, he is getting on a bit (in football terms) and so he is only a short term solution to any midfield dilemmas we have.

Second on the list of potentials is Michael Brown of Sheffield United. Apparently West Ham have had representatives looking at the player for several games now, who is playing the best football of his career.

Brown, soon to be 25, was signed from Manchester City for £400,000 a couple of years ago, but is now said to be worth £3m-£4m. That figure seems to put him out of our current price range, although if the possible sale of Paolo di Canio goes through, a deal may be on the cards.

With the player hitting a fine vein of form, and coming to up to his potentially best years it would be an ideal age to secure the players services. We desperately need more midfield players of quality, and he sounds as though he could be a good candidate, especially considering his goalscoring ability from midfield.

Finally we come on to Savo Milosevic. The former Aston Villa hit man is now plying his trade with Parma, who are about to secure the services of Hakan Sukur from Inter Milan, enabling Savo leave.

The deal being touted, is a loan deal till the end of the season with the option of a permanent transfer on the cards at the end of that period. I would rate this deal as unlikely, except (as for Brown) di Canio was sold. For a start, Parma's £11m signing is likely to be on a high wage, which would discourage the board.

Out of the three players, I would say Rob Lee is the most likely, but the transfer of Brown and Milosevic would despend on the sale of di Canio - whose deal with Manchester United is currently hanging in the balance.