West Ham get tough on Joey Barton contract as club try to strike pay-as-you-play deal

Talking terms: Controversial star must accept pay-as-you-play deal
Dan Mullan/Getty Images
Ken Dyer11 August 2015

Joey Barton will have to accept a pay-as-you-play deal if his move to West Ham is to go through.

The former QPR midfielder was due to undergo a medical today, as a West Ham club source insisted that negotiations were still ongoing.

It is understood the chances of Barton signing were still only around “30 per cent” and that the 32-year-old would have to accept a deal heavily weighted to appearance money to prove his “desire”.

Barton is a free agent after he was released by QPR at the end of last season following their relegation to the Championship.

He wants to stay in the Premier League and had been training with Watford but he was on £70,000 a week at QPR, which was considerably more than the promoted club could offer.

Barton would be a useful addition to Slaven Bilic’s squad but his possible arrival has already prompted much discussion on social media.

The club are aware of antipathy towards the controversial midfielder among some of their supporters and will take that into consideration before making any decision.

Back in 2013, chairman David Gold was asked on Twitter for his verdict on Barton following a public row with former Liverpool player Dietmar Hamann.

Gold said at the time that the midfielder “has a problem and should seek help” while he also jokingly claimed he would give former manager Sam Allardyce “some time off” if he tried to sign Barton.

David Gold

However, the Manchester City academy product’s playing ability is not in dispute and it is felt he could be a valuable squad member if a two-year contract can be agreed.

Read More

West Ham also remain committed to signing a striker before the transfer window closes on September 2 with Manchester United’s Javier Hernandez still top of their list.

The Hammers have already had one offer for the 27-year-old Mexico international rejected but have returned with a second bid of close to £12million.

They face competition from Tottenham who are also keen to add a front man to their squad before the window closes to provide support for Harry Kane.

Meanwhile, West Ham’s proposed loan deal to take another Mexican, Raul Jimenez, from Atletico Madrid has fallen through with the forward now poised to join Benfica.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in

MORE ABOUT