Pellegrini rules out Toure at West Ham

Image result for Yaya Toure

West Ham boss Manuel Pellegrini has ruled out a move for free agent Yaya Toure, and said his squad is “complete.”

Toure ended his eight-year stay at Manchester City this summer and is currently without a club. A reunion with the Chilean boss at the London Stadium had been tipped as a possibility but Pellegrini said he has no plans to pursue a move for the 35-year-old midfielder.

“Yaya Toure is a good player, he will always be a good player, but for the moment he is not for West Ham,” Pellegrini said. “For the moment, the squad is complete.”

Image result for west ham

Toure scored 20 goals in the Premier League as City claimed the 2013-14 title under Pellegrini, and the pair spent three seasons together at the Etihad.

The former Ivory Coast international then saw his first team opportunities limited once Pellegrini was replaced by Pep Guardiola in 2016, and last season made just 10 league appearances.

West Ham have been busy in the transfer market this summer, strengthening particularly in central midfield with the additions of Jack , Sebastian Nebyala and Carlos Sanchez. However, they began their Premier League campaign with a 4-0 defeat at Liverpool.

West Ham were based at the Boleyn Ground, commonly known as Upton Park, in Newham, East London. The capacity of the Boleyn Ground was 35,016, and had been West Ham’s ground since 1904. Prior to this, in their previous incarnation of Thames Ironworks, they played at Hermit Road in Canning Town and briefly at Browning Road in East Ham, before moving to the Memorial Grounds in Plaistow in 1897. They retained the stadium during their transition to becoming West Ham United and were there for a further four seasons before moving to the Boleyn Ground in 1904.

Former chairman Eggert Magnússon made clear his ambition for West Ham to move to the Olympic Stadium after the 2012 Summer Olympics, a desire reiterated by current chairmen Gold and Sullivan when they assumed control of the club stating that they felt it was a logical move for the Government as it was in the borough of Newham.

In February 2010, however, the British Olympic Minister stated that West Ham would not get the stadium, and it would instead be used for track and field.

On 17 May 2010, West Ham and Newham London Borough Council submitted a formal plan to the Olympic Park Legacy Company for the use of the Olympic Stadium following the 2012 Summer Olympics. The proposal was for a stadium with a capacity of 60,000 which would retain a competition athletics track. The proposal was welcomed by the chairman of UK athletics, Ed Warner, who said, “I think it will feel great as a football stadium and I speak as a football fan as well the chairman of UK Athletics. I think you’d find West Ham would cover the track in the winter season so it wouldn’t look like you had a track between you and the pitch.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *