Following a report that West Ham were going out of their way not to sign any more African players because they cause too much mayhem, David Moyes has fielded questions regarding the legitimacy of those claims.
Head of Recruitment Tony Henry has been suspended after he sent an email to an agent and other members of the West Ham hierarchy saying the club didn’t want to sign African players, an email which was later leaked to the Daily Mail.
Henry maintained there was no racist or prejudicial intent behind his alleged comments but the club have moved fast to reaffirm their stance of being a club that welcomes those of all different races.
When asked about the transfer policy refraining from signing African players, Moyes confirmed that there was no such plan in place despite Henry alluding to the fact that orders came from above to avoid bringing in African players.
The comments are wrong. We were trying to sign two African players on deadline day. We have an open transfer policy here. We sign good, quality players and it doesn’t matter where they are from.
I’ve spoken to one or two of the African players and they seem fine and they’ve trained well. Morale is good. We’re on the back of a pretty good run and we want to keep it going. I’ve never, ever witnessed any prejudicial transfer policy at any club I’ve been at.
Moyes went on to illustrate he has a strong background of signing African players and that he has no prejudice towards them.
No, never. My first signing at Everton was Joseph Yobo. I went to his Testimonial in Nigeria last year and it was really good. I signed Steven Pienaar three times and we brought in Yakubu, who was a great boy. I brought in Ndong and Mbodji last year at Sunderland.
I don’t think any Premier League club has more African players than West Ham and we tried to sign two on deadline day. We have a multicultural squad and we always try to sign the best players available.
West Ham sold two African players in Senegal international Diafra Sakho and Ghana captain Andre Ayew in the final few days of the January transfer window which has certainly not shined a favourable light on the club amid these allegations.
