Another West Ham United loan spell may be over before it started

Another loan option with so many clauses that will remain in such obscurity, speculation will foster for months to come.

Aren’t we tired of this?

More recently, the attempt to loan Joe Hart fell through because an unnamed club made an actual bid. Both clubs seemed keen on the move but perhaps it was Joe who decided otherwise in the end. Yet, regardless of how the transfer attempt transpired, fans seemed to roll their eyes in unison at the thought of another loan. “Why loan a 30 year old keeper when we have a perfectly healthy Adrian just standing around?”, thought everyone.

West Ham United has had a forward problem for quite some time. There have been attempts to assuage this issue with loan to buy options, a la Simone Zaza and Jonathan Calleri. Both of which, Hammer fans would be quick to forget.

So what makes Gabriel Barbosa, or “Gabigol” as he’s known around town, any different?

Other than the Brazilian media dubbing the 20 year old forward, the next “Neymar”, the kid does have sizable talent. He just hasn’t had the stage to showcase it yet, which is said to be the obstacle preventing the young Brazilian from joining the Hammers on loan. Apparently Barbosa hasn’t racked up enough match time between club and country to allow for a loan to East London.

In his 10 appearances for Internazionale last season, he netted just one goal. Barbosa signed a five year deal reportedly worth somewhere around £30 million.

Let’s play devil’s advocate for a second and see how this plays out. Let’s say Gabigol is who Jonathan Calleri was supposed to be and acts as a great 2nd option, should we fail to sign the multitude of targets from winger to striker. Unless there’s a buyout option at the end of the loan, and it’s highly unlikely there is, who cares? This would just band-aid a gaping wound that clearly needs surgery. We would be going into 2018 with the same exact questions we’ve had the last few seasons.

Clearly, I’m not a fan of the loan option, especially when the board fails to recognize league rules that would prevent a transfer from occurring. An obstacle that should have clearly been addressed prior to turning the ignition.

Love the player, hate the loan.