David Sullivan (West Ham co-owner) on Demba Ba

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5 Goals 1 Hat Trick 11 Heroes-NUFC4LIFE said:
From NUFC.com

Sullivan: "We wanted to loan him, but Hoffenheim said they wouldn’t loan him as they could get €6m for him from Stoke. He then failed the medical at Stoke. I went back and asked to loan him again. Again they said no, but they would sell him to us.

"So we paid €500K down, which was almost like a loan fee, and then we’d pay €5.5m euros starting the next season depending on how many games he played – one level of payment in the Championship, one level of payment on the Premier League.

"I’ll have to make the figures up because I can’t remember, but something like €25K a game in the Premier League and €10K in the Championship.

"Demba Ba signed a three and a half year contract with us. We had a deal where his salary would be halved if we were relegated. He said, 'Well on that basis, I have got to be allowed to walk if we get relegated'.

What we should have said in retrospect – but none of us thought he would score so many goals – is that we’d be happy to give him £40K a week in the Championship.

In the end I offered him £45K a week to stay but he wouldn’t take it. What we should have said was that if we don’t halve your salary, you haven’t got a get-out.

The failure to put that one line in the contract cost us very, very dearly. As I say, he was on £35K a week and I offered him £45K a week to stay, but he went to Newcastle. His agent got £2m to take him to Newcastle.

Dale: "So do Newcastle now have to pay to Hoffenheim the money you would have had to pay?"

Sullivan: "No. That’s why Newcastle could always outbid us. It was our deal with Hoffenheim."

Dale: "So Hoffenheim got stuffed, then."

Sullivan: "Yup, they got half a million for him. This didn’t work for anyone except Demba Ba… and Newcastle. I’m told he’s got a £7m get-out at Newcastle and he gets half the money over that. They keep denying it but I think you’ll see in the summer he will leave Newcastle or he’ll get a monstrous rise to stay there.

"If they get about four million, half will go to him, so if they sell him for £7m they’ll only net about three because they paid his agent £2m to get him out of here. Getting £3m is not bad, but for a player of his quality it’s not fantastic.

"It’s one of those mistakes that happen, but it’s probably one of the worst mistakes I have ever made in my life. It just didn’t enter our heads. it didn’t enter anybody’s head that he’d score enough goals that we’d want to give him £40K a week and his old club £15/20K an appearance and we’d still be relegated. In reality that’s exactly what happened.

"The agent just threw it in at the last minute. He said 'Obviously if his salary is cut by 50% you’ve got to let him walk'. We thought, OK, if we get relegated, do we really want a £40K a week striker in the Championship?

"Well, we would have because he was devastating. If he was with us now and his knee had held up, because remember, he did have a very very bad knee, I think we’d be 15 points clear, I really do. He’d be cutting through those defences. You live and you learn."

Worrying and definitely a cause for concern in the summer.
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Fascinating stuff - it's very cut-throat with the finance these days and you have to wonder why he failed the medical at Stoke City.

His knee hasn't given him a moments trouble since he's been here - did the club take a risk in signing him? I can't imagine it is a risk - £2m for Ba?

Ba-gain! <laugh>
 
The bit I particularly liked was his display of business knowledge, financial acumen and keeping abreast of club affairs with the comment "I'll have to make the figures up here because I can't remember" ****ing hell it was only last year! To be fair they did inherit one hell of a wage bill from that mad icelandic bastard.
 
Andylike said:
Unfortunately nobody from the club has come out and said there is no clause so looks like we may lose him for next to nowt
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The club doesn't say much about much. I have, despite myself, developped a healthy respect for the way it manages its money though. I would be surprised if we come out of this having been played for mugs
 
HAVING let Demba Ba leave West Ham United on a free transfer, co-owner David Sullivan thinks Newcastle United risk losing him for as little as £3.5m this summer.

Sullivan has described the deal which took Demba Ba to St James’ Park as “probably one of the worst mistakes I have ever made in my life”.

But he believes that the Magpies could also be short-changed, as Hoffenheim were when the Senegal striker first moved to the Premier League in January 2011.

In an interview with fans website “West Ham Till I Die”, Sullivan explained the terms of Ba’s move to Tyneside.

And he also added to speculation about the Senegal striker’s get-out clause, claiming it is around £7m.

When Ba moved to Upton Park, the Hammers agreed to let him leave for free if they were relegated, which they were.

Although they did not receive a penny when the player joined Newcastle, Sullivan claims Ba’s agent was paid £2m as part of the deal.

He revealed: “Demba Ba signed a three-and-a-half year contract with us.

“We had a deal where his salary would be halved (from £35,000 a week) if we were relegated. He said, ‘Well on that basis, I have got to be allowed to walk if we get relegated’.

“What we should have said in retrospect – but none of us thought he would score so many goals – is we’d be happy to give him £40 grand a week in the Championship.

“In the end I offered him £45 grand a week to stay but he wouldn’t take it.

“What we should have said was that if we don’t halve your salary, you haven’t got a get-out. The failure to put that one line in the contract cost us very, very dearly.”

Having wanted to take Ba on loan, West Ham paid Hoffenheim an initial 500,000 (£415,000), with the deal rising by up to 5.5m on a match-by-match basis depending what division they were in. Hoffenheim never got the extra cash, and received nothing from Newcastle.

Tottenham Hotspur boss Harry Redknapp stirred a hornet’s nest in January by speculating that Ba had a buy-out clause in his Newcastle contract – something the Magpies have never been prepared to comment on.

But despite not having been involved in those negotiations, Sullivan is.

“I’m told he’s got a £7m get-out at Newcastle and he gets half the money over that,” he said. ”They keep denying it but I think you’ll see in the summer he will leave Newcastle or he’ll get a monstrous rise to stay there.

“It’s one of those mistakes that happen, but it’s probably one of the worst mistakes I have ever made in my life.

“It just didn’t enter anybody’s head that he’d score enough goals that we’d want to give him £40k a week and his old club £15/20k an appearance.”

Having scored 16 goals already this term, United seem certain to try to negotiate a new contract with Ba in the summer.

Sullivan also claimed Newcastle bid £4m for Ravel Morrison, but that the Hammers saw off them and four other Premier League clubs by offering Manchester United a £2m package.


I don't know if there's any truth.
But that's pretty scary to think we could could lose Demba for that ammount.
 
Sounds like bullshit from a very bitter man to me. the £4 million for morrison especially. Ashley would not pay that for someone like Morrison
 
Most pressing news Ive seen is in The Evening Chronicle, Cisse might'nt be back from International duty with Senegal for derby.
 
You have to say why would Ashley et el allow Ba's agaent put in a 50% of the sell on fee clause into his contract. As much as people call Ashley he isn't stupid and I'm sure the clause would be more than £7 million.

Sullivan was quoted "So I've heard" before spouting this ****e.

Don't know what he dwarf is looking to gain from this.
 
cbra said:
So he's likely to be missing if Cisse is.
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Well I think it'll be touch and go. He'll probably fly back on the 1st of March meaning he'll only be able to train for 2 days.

Could be enough.

But if they're missing Sessegnon for the derby , I actually won't be worried the night before the derby. They heavily rely on him.
 
5 Goals 1 Hat Trick 11 Heroes-NUFC4LIFE said:
Well I think it'll be touch and go. He'll probably fly back on the 1st of March meaning he'll only be able to train for 2 days.

Could be enough.

But if they're missing Sessegnon for the derby , I actually won't be worried the night before the derby. They heavily rely on him.
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Yes that was very noticeable on Saturday and even though some of their fans won't admit it you could see that crowd notice it as well.
 
I had a scan of the BBC Internationals and didn't see that one, don't think Ethipoia is quite as far as South Africa. But would certainly benefit us if he was missing.

Surely we'd just put Strolla in for Cisse as he is the Mackem destroyer :D
 
Now lets not have any of the "I want to play their strongest team so there are no excuses" ****. I want their whole squad to get a nasty dose of Gonorrhea, and miss the game due to burning knobs. But Sessegnon staying away will do. They'll miss him a whole lot more than we'll miss Cisse.
 
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