Signing Joey Barton made financial sense, says Sullivan

  • by Staff Writer
  • Thursday, 20th August 2015

West Ham co-owner David Sullivan believes that signing Joey Barton would have made sense from a financial perspective - and was a deal he personally supported.

Free agent Barton was on the verge of joining West Ham last week after spending a short spell at Chadwell Heath on trial. However the plug was pulled on the transfer after some of the squad's senior players approached Sullivan to express their concerns.

And that, revealed Sullivan, speaking to Chris Scull and James Longman on the latest KUMB West Ham Podcast, was enough to persuade the club to perform an about-turn and cancel their plans to sign the 32-year-old former Manchester City and QPR midfielder.

"Personally I would have signed Joey Barton because it was an exceptionally good deal from a financial point of view," he revealed.

"It was very high appearance money, but a very low basic. There was no long-term commitment and big appearance money only if he started - and only in Premier League games.

"From a purely financial point of view, to get a player of Joey Barton's quality in on a one-year contract was very good from a financial point of view."

"But there were a couple of players who didn't fancy it and if the potential cost is an unhappy dressing room, you have to listen to it."


Barton, speaking on twitter last week


Despite failing to land his man, Sullivan spoke positively about his negotiations with Barton - whose response to news of the breakdown in talks with West Ham via video the Chairman called "dignified".

"He's not a mug, he was the best player at Queens Park Rangers last year so he would have made a contribution in an area where we're short of numbers," added Sullivan.

"I think he's a 90 per cent reformed character, I thought his video was very dignified under the circumstances because he felt very let down.

"But if the manager thought fan power or a bit of player power or a bit of means means don't take him, you've got to support the manager. "

You may listen to the entire KUMB Podcast with David, Jack and Dave Sullivan here. All Podcasts from our first three series may be found here.

* The KUMB West Ham Podcast is brought to you in association with 888sport, our official betting sponsor for this season's shows who provide exclusive offers for KUMB readers and West Ham fans. To get started 888sport are offering all new customers Treble The Odds on your first bet! Claim it here

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