West Ham have ditched their controversial ‘Insider’ column on their club website after it helped reveal much of the club’s January transfer window plans.
An article posted on West Ham’s official site on Wednesday effectively confirmed the club’s interest in Celtic striker Moussa Dembele, claiming that a £20million bid had been lodged for a player “from Scotland” whilst also confirming moves for Brentford’s Scott Hogan and Sunderland’s Jermain Defoe.
The insider column has been running since the summer of 2015 and though it claims the views in the article are “not necessarily those of West Ham United” it has come in for heavy criticism from fans, one of whom branded it “unprofessional”.
Vice-chairman Karren Brady confirmed that the column was at an end on Twitter and its most recent iteration has been removed from the West Ham website, though iterations from the summer linking the Hammers with the likes of then-Lyon defender Samuel Umtiti and Benfica midfielder Atiba Hutchinson remain.
“I have asked for ‘the insider’ be removed [sic] from the website and it will never be repeated again,” Brady confirmed on Twitter.
West Ham remain active in the January transfer window and have already seen a £3m bid for Robert Snodgrass and a £6m offer for Defoe rejected. They do, however, remain confident of recruiting Hogan and hope he could sign next week.
