Hammers boss Harry Redknapp gave clear indication this morning that he is far from happy with the sale of Rio Ferdinand to Leeds.
Speaking to the club website earlier he said: "I'm not sure what's happening. He's been speaking to the Chariman of Leeds, and it's now up to Rio what he does."It's his decision now as to whether he goes or not."
But Redknapp sounded far from happy about the deal, when he added: "I don't want to lose the player. I've been in the game long enough to know that all I'm doing is weakening the team - and I can't replace him.
"Even if I had £8m to spend - how can I replace Rio? I'm just going to end up weakening my team again. It's not a situation I want to be in.
"It's not an ideal situation for me - but I do understand, £18m is an incredible offer - an offer which the club feel that they can't turn down. I understand that as well.
"I'm caught in the middle. From a business point of view it's a great deal - £18m? You don't get that sort of offer for a player.
"I've got to go to Southampton without Rio and Ian Pearce [hamstring]. They're two key, key players for me, you can't be without your best players - I can't replace them two.
"Last Saturday I said 'we'll push on from here lads, who knows where we can go from here', because I thought that we were playing that well. The balance of the team was right, but now I've got to go to Southampton with one fit defender - Stuart Pearce."
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