West Ham United secure sale of winger, but sign on fee holds up negotiations.

Honestly, is there anything more West Ham United than successfully negotiating the sale of a player but then running into a road block because of some ludicrous sign on fee bonus?

When Sofiane Feghouli put pen to paper last year, West Ham included a £4.5m sign on bonus that was to be paid out over the three years of his contract. What they hadn’t planned on, as they were blinded by the biggest stadium televisions in Europe, was that Feghouli would fail to pan out as a player. So far, West Ham has paid £1.5m of that bonus already, with £3m remaining for all you math whizzes out there.

Galatasaray has offered £5m for the 27 year old Algerian international and the Hammers happily obliged. This is how I imagine the scene playing out:

David Sullivan: £5 million eh? (Looks over at Karren who is scrolling through Kim Kardashian’s instagram) I think we can agree to that.

Igor Tudor: Excellent! I’ll have the papers sent over immediately and we can announce in the morning. (Gets up to leave)

David Sullivan: (takes a long drag from his cigarette) One moment Igor. There is one pesky piece of business to discuss...

Igor Tudor: Oh for fuck’s sake... what is it porn man?

It’s like I was in the room when it happened. West Ham is asking Galatasaray to fork over the remaining £3m. Galatasaray is asking West Ham if they’re joking. And poor Sofiane just wants to go.

Truthfully, this is a good move for Sofiane. He gets to a good club and he gets playing time. English soil hasn’t been kind to him but he’s certainly made some memories, particularly at the end of the season. Here’s a gem against Burnley in May.