Filed under: Football
Scott Parker, voted Football Writers' Footballer of the Year at the end of the season just gone and a current England player to boot, is available for just £4 million, or £3 million if you are really good at driving a hard bargain.But there is just one catch. If you sign him for such a fee you must hand him back to West Ham at the end of the season, especially if the Hammers return to the Premier League after a single season in the Championship.
"We'd love a deal," gushed Hammers co-owner David Sullivan to Sky Sports News before bemoaning the fact that his club must somehow find time to fulfil 46 fixtures this term. "This has been mooted that we'd loan him out for a year for a substantial fee and then when we get promotion he'd come back to us. That sort of deal would appeal to us because we love Scott.
"We would obviously want a loan fee because he has substantial value and three or four years left of his career. Scott is at the absolute peak of his game at the moment and is playing out of his skin. He would be a superstar wherever he goes - in the Championship I'm sure he would be the best player."
Actually, the one place the 30-year-old could end up going on such terms just happens to be Chelsea, where he failed to be a superstar as a fully-fledged contracted player between 2003 and 2005, managing just 28 appearances.
The Blues need a replacement for Michael Essien, who is out for the season with cruciate ligament trouble, and know Parker is now at the peak of his powers. It makes sense, especially as new manager Andre Villas-Boas will remember Parker from his previous Stamford Bridge stint, when the Portuguese was one of Jose Mourinho's helpers.
But given that this is a David Sullivan scheme you just know it is unlikely to pan out that way and while Parker is no doubt keen to get himself back among England's elite as soon as possible Chelsea are not so keen on the £4 million part of the deal.
Sullivan's reasoning is based on the fact that the Hammers had to pay Tottenham £1 million to borrow Robbie Keane for half of last term and received very little from their outlay. But while Parker is a better player than the Irishman, in the Premier League if not yet on the international stage, is seems Chelsea regard him only marginally so and would prefer to pay £1.5 million, although once the player's £70,000-plus-a-week wage is factored in the total will indeed top the £4 million mark.
And then there is the more simple solution - the straight sale and wave goodbye to Upton Park and the Championship football it is set to host. Aston Villa are keen and have money to burn following the sale of Ashley Young to Manchester United and the imminent departure of Stewart Downing to Liverpool.
And while Parker would not be a direct replacement for either his arrival would signal to the rest of the division that Villa, under new manager Alex McLeish, intend to be challengers rather than strugglers, with Shay Given, Charles N'Zogbia and possibly also Alan Hutton in their sights as well.
Villa are understood to be willing to pay £7 million for a player West Ham value at nearer to £10 million but Parker himself, unsurprisingly given the Champions League football potentially on offer, prefers the cross-London switch, with Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp also very keen on adding him to his squad.
And given the West Ham owners' track record in the transfer market then anything could happen between now and August 31 as far as Scott Parker is concerned...
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Source: http://www.fanhouse.co.uk/2011/07/14/anyone-fancy-borrowing-last-seasons-best-player-west-ham-hope/
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