English Premiership
Benni at war with West Ham
2011-02-02 09:54
Johannesburg - Former Bafana Bafana heavyweight Benni McCarthy is at war with West Ham United.
The
33-year-old striker has been left out of the Hammers 25-man squad for
the rest of the Premier League season, meaning he is only free to play
in FA Cup matches.
Furthermore, the struggling East London club
has attempted to offer McCarthy a £1 million pay-off to voluntarily end
his contract with the club.
But McCarthy, who stands to earn more
than £2.7 million if he sees out the remaining 18-months of his Hammers
contract, has rejected the club's offer.
Benni's Hammers tenure
has been an abject failure. He has been cursed with fitness problems,
and was lambasted by the club for being overweight.
His £38 000 a
week salary has come to represent a major burden for the club,
considering he has played just 326 minutes since joining in January last
year, without scoring a goal.
During the transfer window
McCarthy came close to a move to promotion chasing Championship side
Queens Park Rangers. And although he scored in a trial match for the
wealthy London club, he did not manage to secure a move there.
The
Hammers will be desperate to loan Benni to any Championship side when
the loan window opens again next week. And according to the
The Telegraph, a number of clubs in the Middle East have expressed an interest in the striker.
It
is clear that Benni's sojourn in the English top-flight has come to an
end, and it will be in both his and West Ham's best interests to find a
solution to their current impasse.