Striker Joel Piroe was one of the many players Leeds United got rid of this summer.
Although the forward only joined West Ham on loan initially, if the Hammers get promoted as we expect them to, we will get around £12m for Piroe.
For a player who looked a million miles off the pace when he featured for us in the Premier League, this would be an incredible piece of business from the 49ers.
But following his recent exit, Piroe made some baffling comments that will certainly raise a few eyebrows.
In a recent interview with ESPN, it doesn’t seem as if Piroe is particularly missing life in Leeds.
“London is of course a much nicer city than Leeds,” Piroe started off by saying.
But the striker didn’t stop there; he then went on to take a dig at his new club, West Ham.
“West Ham has a Premier League-worthy team. If you just look at the stadium… Sold out, 60,000 fans, that’s not really normal in the Championship. Especially in London, where West Ham United is not the biggest or most favourite club,” Piroe said.
I mean, you could argue that nothing Piroe said was wrong. But to take a dig at a city that welcomed you with open arms is bizarre. Just say you enjoy living in London. There’s no reason why he has to say it’s better than Leeds.
But West Ham’s PR team will surely be cringing after reading the next bit. Of course the Hammers aren’t the biggest or most popular club in London. But just after you’ve signed for them, you don’t come out and say that!
Whilst he didn’t take a swipe at Leeds as a club, talking down about the city certainly isn’t nice.
All I’m going to say is, Piroe, for someone who was very poor in his general play for most of his Leeds appearances, is lucky we still backed him as a fanbase.
It’s clear he’s not a Premier League footballer. But that didn’t stop us from singing his name every time he was subbed on at Elland Road.
I have a feeling the West Ham fan base will not be as patient with the striker if their promotion push goes down to the wire, or if they do go up and they have to watch Piroe fail miserably when attempting to lead the line in the Premier League.
The last thing I want is to see Piroe back at Leeds, and his recent comments about the city have only amplified this feeling.
