Enner Valencia has once again been linked with a move to Chelsea. Could the Ecuadorian be on his way out of West Ham?

In recent weeks Valencia has been quoted as saying, "I never said I'll stay at West Ham if another club want me." - Many West Ham fans took this as a combination of the language barrier, the translating of what was meant and the national papers twisting the quotes to suit their own desires.  

Today, however, the rumours have been stirred bizarrely by Valencia himself. A translation of his Facebook update reads as follows;  "We are going to see what happens after the America Cup, competition in which I think we are going to do good things for the group that we have. I have heard of the Chelsea, yes; and other equipment, but we are going to wait, you have to see what happens. If it is for the good of mine and the West Ham, welcome it is." It's easy to see here again, that the translation isn't brilliant - as a non-native speaker of Spanish, this writer could twist this to suit any argument.  

However, it's logical thinking which should prevail here. If Valencia is indeed wary of interest, which there supposedly was, then of course he'd be happy about it - they're the Premier League champions after all! West Ham though spent £12million on the Ecuadorian, so they'd want to at least recoup the outlay they spent on the player - in order to bring in an adequate replacement - especially as they only have four senior strikers; one of whom is returning from his exile to France in Modibo Maiga, and if rumours are to be believed, Valencia who is attracting such interest from other clubs. There's also the Andy Carroll fitness tombola West Ham play ever season. David Gold and David Sullivan are no fools, so you'd assume they'd identified that the crop of current strikers with or without Valencia wouldn't be strong enough for a long-season which will feature the Europa League too, should they qualify. Whilst Sam Allardyce was at the club, he said of the reported Chelsea interest, to the Daily Star; "By email, text or phone? If they've sounded us out, which way? The only way they have been sounded out is through the media not through club-to-club."

The other case against the rumours circulating is the initial 'Shouldn't Chelsea be setting their sights higher?' case. Ask Chelsea fans what they think of the rumours, and they all say roughly the same thing; that Valencia is a good player, and nothing more, nothing less. As champions, you would assume that they would be targeting much 'bigger' name strikers than a player who had a solid, if unspectacular, first season in the Premier League. In all respect to Valencia, we aren't talking about a player who came to the Premier League and has scored 20+ goals, he scored 5, including a single cup goal. Valencia had started the season ferociously in his partnership with Diafra Sakho, but as the Hammers season started to wane, as did the large majority of their player's form. Maybe that's what had Chelsea keeping tabs on him, but, even as a back-up striker - he isn't any better than Loic Remy - is he? Or, would Jose Mourinho take to following the poor example Sam Allardyce set of wasting the Ecuador International on the wing?

For West Ham here, this sort of talk should serve to hurry them up in their managerial appointment. If Valencia is having doubts, then, the best thing they can do is to appoint a manager who will cloud the metaphorical fog in Valencia's mind - and make him see his future is still in East London. With these quotes coming directly from Valencia though, it does beg the question of is there something to it, as the old cliché goes; there's no smoke without fire.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            

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About the author
Stuart Plant
London based sports writer. Recent English Lit + Creative Writing graduate. I love my Boxing, football (West Ham United) and international Rugby.