West Ham manager David Moyes has said that it was sacked director of recruitment Tony Henry who suggested that the club sign Africans Islam Slimani and Ibrahim Amadou.
The club sacked Henry on Friday after he recently said that the club should not sign African players as they have a bad attitude and cause “mayhem” when not selected.
Henry’s statements are likely to have been influenced by his frustration in dealing with Diafra Sakho, who left the Hammers to join Rennes in France last month.
Before the Wednesday transfer deadline, the East London club had tried to sign Slimani, who ended up joining Newcastle on loan for the rest of the season, as well as Amadou from Lille.
Whilst discussing the sacking of Henry, Moyes said: “If we were signing two African players on deadline day, you would have to say it’s incorrect and wrong.
“It’s a massive shock, because you are well aware of the couple of players we were trying to sign on deadline day, so that’s why it’s a big surprise. We were very, very close to signing two players from Africa.
“I’ve known Tony and he has to get on with his stuff but all I can say is that it wasn’t correct because we were trying to sign two players like that on deadline day.”
When asked if Henry had suggested that the club sign Slimani and Amadou, Moyes added: “Yes. They were two players who were slightly available, albeit who came up late.”
