By Chris Wright
West Ham co-owner David Gold has revealed that he hasn’t given up on signing Joe Cole and Thierry Henry despite increasing speculation linking the pair to moves elsewhere.
Since taking over at Upton Park in January, both Gold and his fellow David Sullivan, have promised to bring in a ‘marquee’ name in a bid to boost the stature and the commercial backing of the club.
Initially, The Hammers approached then-Real Madrid striker Ruud Van Nistelrooy during the winter transfer window with a lucrative offer to return to the Premier League but the Dutchman chose to join German side Hamburg instead.
Gold and Sullivan then turned thier attention to former Arsenal striker Henry, who was (and still is) struggling to displace young Spanish winger Pedro in the Barcelona first string – but their approach was rebuffed amidst conjecture that the Frenchman was on the verge of completing a move to the MLS with the New York Red Bulls.
But Gold has confirmed that West Ham have returned with another bid for Henry as well as making initial enquiries into a deal for Cole (who is set to become a free-agent when his contract with Chelsea expires at the end of June) but the Hammers chief also admitted that he doesn’t expect to hear from either camp until after the World Cup;
“We, as much as anyone, want England to do well at the World Cup so there’s absolutely no chance of us talking to Joe during the World Cup. We wouldn’t do that during this very delicate period but after that, that’s a different matter.
When it comes to big transfers we don’t like to any stone unturned. The chance of getting Cole is 10/1 and therefore there is a one in 10 chance of us getting him. We probably won’t get him but the offer is still there. There is the same chance of Henry coming but we will try.
We had a chat with him for a bit but it looks like he is going to be offered another contract. The offer is still on the table for him too and it will be there for another two or three weeks.
We have had it in the past where we have thrown the net out far and we will throw the net out again in the future.
“When we were the owners of Birmingham City, nobody would have thought that we would have been able to get Christophe Dugarry but we did and he had an amazing half a season and he kept us in the Premier League.”
I, personally, will eat my own kidneys if either player joins West Ham but good luck anyway David!