Robert Green and Leon McKenzie

Greetings all,

In advance of my EDP column, I would just like to fill you all in with recent developments at Colney and Carrow Road. The Robert Green transfer, for which the club negoitated throughout the night, comprises of three main elements. There will be ?1m spread over the next six months, with another ?500k due if West Ham remain in the Premiership for the next two seasons. In addition to that, there is ?500k based on international appearances and on West Ham achieving a place in Europe for the 2007/8 season.

While ostensibly this has provided the football club with a significant influx of cash, there are many hidden charge that the average fan is not aware of. The structure of the deal with payments due in monthly installments, is beneficial as they coincide with the repayments on the long term loan. Robert Green was on a very substantial contract, however, much of this has already been accounted for with the arrival of Lee Croft, agent fees involved in the transfer and the loss of revenue from sponsors, shirt sales etc resulting from the loss of a high profile player.

Consequently, this transfer will result in little money being made available to the manager, the club has already budgeted this season for the sale of Robert Green, a key consideration in the renewal of Paul Gallacher's contract.

Regarding Leon McKenzie, he has handed in a transfer request, which has been denied by the club. The release of the statement to the press was reflective both of the more open approach by the club regarding internal affairs, as well as for motivational purposes.

Thanks for hearing me out.

N

Posted By: N D, Aug 15, 11:21:07