Hammer blow to the market as Upton Park spending inflates prices

"The West Ham effect has put the fear of God into football. This is how it works: A player is poised to sign for a new club, let's say Newcastle, when the Hammers move in at the last minute and offer £15,000 a week more.

To avoid losing the player, Newcastle agree to match West Ham's £75,000-aweek wage, which will cost them an extra £2.34million over the course of the player's three-year contract.

The player did not want to move to London anyway, is happy in the north, but happily accepts the improved offer and signs for Newcastle as planned.

This actually happened. The player is Mark Viduka, who moved to Tyneside from Middlesbrough on a Bosman free transfer last week.

This time, Hammers missed their target but they still left their mark on another deal in a summer transfer market destined to be remembered for West Ham-led inflation.

And that's not all. Darren Bent met West Ham representatives yesterday, despite previously seeming intent on joining Tottenham to play in Europe.

Eggert Magnusson dug into his Icelandic coffers, slapped a £17m deal on the table and offered to pay Bent £75,000 a week over five years.

Spurs, a club renowned for their financial prudence, had two options — compete financially, shattering their pay structure, or pull out of the deal.

Whatever the outcome now, with Bent last night apparently snubbing the Hammers, the episode showed the east London club's effect on the transfer market.

Magnusson dismisses claims he is driving football towards ruin with his strategy: He said: "The bottom line is that we are an ambitious club with a very sound financial base and as new owners we are determined to move forward.

"As we do that we can expect criticism from others but the most important thing is delivering the true potential of this great club.

"I know we are moving in the right direction as a club and I also know the fans share our ambitions for the future."

If Spurs had even tried to match Bent's expected salary at West Ham, they would then have been forced to treble Dimitar Berbatov's salary just to keep him on a par with the new boy.

Robbie Keane and Ledley King would also be examining their contracts. So Spurs, the club closest to breaking into the Big Four, can no longer compete with the wealth of Upton Park.

A similar round of inflation was triggered when Roman Abramovich arrived at Chelsea four years ago.

Manchester United were forced to raise the stakes if they wanted to compete for the same players but West Ham's new money is about to load pressure on more vulnerable clubs.

Can Aston Villa, Manchester City and Everton compete on a pay scale where England fringe players like Bent, Scott Parker and Matthew Upson (12 caps combined) command a similar salary to Jamie Carragher (34 caps) and considerably more than Paul Robinson (36)?

The deal which took Lucas Neill to Upton Park in January was a real eyebrow-raiser because it declared Magnusson's intentions to pay decent players a basic wage of £60,000 a week, much more than Liverpool could offer.

Lavish promises have been made this summer to try to lure Joey Barton, Craig Bellamy and Andrew Johnson to London's East End.

How long before Johnson asks David Moyes for a raise, explaining that the going rate for a player of his calibre has now doubled to £90,000 a week?

Dean Ashton, one of West Ham's better players, earns £25,000 a week. It is a very good wage but he is entitled to wonder why he is so far behind the Bent benchmark.

There is general fear and unrest within the game. Many are shifting uncomfortably but very few are willing to go public.

One leading agent, however, told Sportsmail of his fears that the West Ham effect was a symptom of a wider problem which is leading the game into meltdown.

He said: "It's 'think of a number and double it' time. Transfer fees are going up in leaps of £5m, salaries are going up in leaps of £10,000.

"It's dangerous, it's unsustainable. People with no football knowledge and no industry acumen are sailing this ship on to the rocks."

Clubs may be aware of this but eating away at them from a different direction is the fear of relegation.

What is an extra £20m on the wage bill compared with the drastic losses incurred if they slip out of the Premiership?

In the Championship, clubs are gambling to reach the promised land. For instance, Leicester, backed by Milan Mandaric, are offering big salaries as they aim for promotion.

So, with West Ham and others prepared to pay over-inflated fees and wages to achieve their goals, it may not be long before Deloitte Touche's prediction of Premiership wages of £200,000 a week becomes a reality.

TOP 10 ALL-BRITISH TRANSFERS

1 RIO FERDINAND Leeds to Man Utd £29.1m

2 WAYNE ROONEY Everton to Man Utd £27m

3 SHAUN WRIGHT-PHILLIPS Man City to Chelsea £21m

4 MICHAEL CARRICK Tottenham to Man Utd £18.6m

5 RIO FERDINAND West Ham to Leeds £18m

6 DARREN BENT Charlton to West Ham £17m

7 DAMIEN DUFF Blackburn to Chelsea £17m

8 ALAN SHEARER Blackburn to Newcastle £15m

9 JUAN SEBASTIAN VERON Man Utd to Chelsea £15m

10 LOUIS SAHA Fulham to Man Utd £12.8m"

source: http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/sport/