As the Hammers unveil their new recruit Emmanuel Emenike, Mohammed Obeid Hamdoun - a board member with his previous club Al Ain has accused the striker of lacking commitment.
Emenike set the African Cup of Nations alight in 2013 scrong 4 goals to seize the golden boot award but has struggled for form ever since and had to retire from the Super Eagles after two years and 15 appearances without a goal.
His move to the Gulf League was prompted by a spectacular falling out with Fenerbahce fans culminating in an on field row with teammates and then an episode where he stripped off and demanded to be substituted to escape the boos of his own supporters.
Hamdoun didn't pull any punches as he revealed in a recent interview with Gulf newspaper The National “I saw Emenike in the World Cup and the African Cup of Nations with Nigeria and he was a good player. But when he came here he scored only seven [league] goals, with the local players we have here? Enough.”
Interestingly, Hamdoun expressed a belief that Emenike would be china bound and seemed unaware that the fallen star might be making the (huge) step up to the world's toughest league. However, Slaven Bilic's record with recruits is more than impressive and he certainly knows Emenike well as the episode of walking off the pitch occured during a game against Bilic's former club Besiktas. Intriguing stuff indeed. It is unclear whether Emenike will be available for the Villa game but with Carroll and Sakho still out, he may get a late run out!
It has been a mighty exciting season so far and many fans justifiably believe that the Hammers can make it to Europe if they can manage to get a supply of fit strikers. With Diafra Sakho and Andy Carroll sidelined, the spotlight has fallen on Enner Valencia and Nikica Jelavic. Both have responded well, with Valencia finally finding the form that was promised when he first arrived after a super 2014 World Cup with Ecuador.
However, the Hammers board have decided to take a gamble in the January transfer window in order to bolster our attacking resources with Nigerian striker Emmanuel Emenike having undergone a medical yesterday. Things are thus set to get even more exciting as the troubled hitman has plenty of previous form and has even been compared to the infamously unstable Mario Balotelli!
Included amongst Emenike's many difficulties are dropped charges of match fixing, fisticuffs with teammates, legal action over media claims that he is 7 years older than his passport indicates, fines for making inappropriate gestures during matches and walking off the pitch early in the first half in response to abuse from his own fans - the latter during a match against Slaven Bilic's Besiktas!
Hammers fans will be somewhat reassured by Bilic's record of dealing with players who step out of line but perhaps more worrying is the fact that at the heart of Emenike's problems has been a terrible loss of form dating back over the past two years. Between 2011 and 2014 he excelled at Spartak Moscow and Fenerbahce even grabbing the attentions of Arsenal and Chelsea with rumours of a move to the Premiership.
However, Emenike then suffered a dramatic loss of form. He was forced to retire from international duties in 2015 after falling out with the National coach due amidst allegations of disrespectful behaviour to his teamates and, most crucially, failing to score in his final 15 matches. After the walking off the pitch incident he left Fenerbahce being farmed out on loan to Abu Dhabi side Al Ain. He has somewhat rediscovered his goalscoring form but undoubtedly represents a massive risk for the Hammers.
All of which makes Nikica Jelavic's rumoured departure to China sound like foolish business. Moreover, Bilic's determination to maintain squad harmony may well be in jeopardy! Tuesday night's game against Aston Villa looks set to provide the first chance to view Emenike. Hammers fans will be hoping for a good showing as his history suggests that even more than most strikers he is a confidence player.
Either way, this signing is unlikely to be boring!
