The 2022/23 season ended up being one of the most memorable in West Ham United’s history after they won the Europa Conference League – their first trophy since 1980.
It is safe to say a lot of things are going right at the club.
Despite the departure of club captain Declan Rice, who joined Arsenal over the summer for a club-record £105m fee, David Moyes’ side were able to reinvest the money wisely.
Two of the new signings arrive with plenty of Champions League and International experience in Mexican midfielder Edson Alvarez, and Ghanaian forward Mohammed Kudus, both signing from Dutch giants Ajax.
While the future certainly looks bright for the Hammers, the recent years have arguably had fewer ups than downs since the January 2010 takeover where David Sullivan and the late David Gold gained co-ownership of the club.
What happened in Sullivan and Gold’s first season?
After completing the takeover midway through the 2009/10 campaign, West Ham found themselves struggling in the relegation zone in the Premier League table.
After making a handful of winter signings, the Hammers were able to narrowly avoid the drop.
In the summer of 2010, West Ham and their new owners were looking to make a statement signing ahead of the new season.
Following a loan move for then-AC Milan and Brazil star Ronaldinho broke down over fitness concerns, the Hammers turned their attention to a talented youngster playing in Brazil, Neymar Jr.
Did Neymar almost join West Ham?
At the time, then-18-year-old Neymar Jr was already making headlines for Brazilian side Santos for his incredible natural talent and a move to Europe was looking inevitable.
West Ham were willing to smash their transfer record for the teenage sensation – which at the time was Craig Bellamy who joined in 2007 for £7.5m.
The Irons had offered Santos an extraordinary £16m bid for the player, although the Brazilian side were refusing to sell for anything less than Neymar’s £28.4m release clause, according to The Athletic.
The deal was made even more difficult due to the structure of Neymar’s contract, as Santos only owned 60% of the wingers’ rights, with the rest being owned by investment groups who had to sanction any sale less than the release clause.
With Neymar’s father also hesitant to let his son make the move to Europe so soon in his career, the deal was off and West Ham instead settled on the signing of Nigerian forward Victor Obinna on a season-long loan from Italian champions Inter Milan.
Obinna would play 32 times for West Ham during the 2010/11 season, where he would score eight goals as the Hammers were relegated to the Championship for the first time since the 2002/03 season.
Neymar on the other hand, would remain in Brazil for the time being, before going down a very different path to that of West Ham.
What was Neymar’s next move?
After remaining at Santos, Neymar would continue to impress and would receive praise from all over the world.
A report in 2011 labelled Neymar 'the next Pele, Ronaldo and Ronaldinho rolled into one,' which highlights just how appreciated his talent was.
In fact, the aforementioned Ronaldinho himself would seemingly confirm this later in his career, saying:
“Neymar is already my heir. He will be the face of Brazil for many seasons to come. Neymar is a phenomenon. It’s nice to see a Brazilian continuing to make history and I think he can be the greatest in the world.”
In 2013, Spanish champions Barcelona completed the signing of Neymar for a fee of around £49m. At the time of his arrival, the 21-year-old had already been capped 33 times for the Brazilian national team, scoring 20 goals in that time.
How did Neymar’s career pan out?
Neymar’s first season in Barcelona was no less than impressive, as the Brazilian had himself admitted that adjusting to European football would be “difficult,” before scoring 15 goals and 15 assists in 41 appearances in all competitions.
It was the 2014/15 season, however, when Neymar would truly announce himself in European football. The forward would help form an iconic front-three partnership with Lionel Messi and the newly signed Luis Suarez, better known as ‘MSN’.
Neymar played 51 games in all competitions, scoring an incredible 39 goals and getting 10 assists for his teammates, as Barcelona would win the continental treble, completed with the Champions League win where Neymar himself scored the third and final goal in injury time as they beat Italian champions Juventus 3-1.
Over the next two seasons, he would feature a total of 94 more times for Barcelona, and his impressive numbers didn’t slow down, as he scored another 51 goals and earned 51 assists.
In the summer of 2017, Paris Saint-Germain made a sensational £200m bid for the Brazilian which Barcelona were forced to accept, leaving the decision to the player. Neymar, who wanted to step out of Lionel Messi’s shadow in Spain, accepted the world record move which still stands today.
After spending six years in the French capital, Neymar went through mixed times at the club. Although it was never possible to doubt the talent at his disposal, he left PSG in 2023 having failed to win their main goal of a Champions League title, while on a personal level, still couldn’t get close to his desired Ballon d’Or trophy ahead of his rivals.
The forward still managed to register 77 goals and 52 assists in 173 games for PSG, before leaving for Saudi Arabian side Al-Hilal for a £73m fee, which reportedly earns him a whopping £2.65m-per-week in wages.
Club
Matches
Goals
Assists
Santos (2009-2013)
139
72
37
Barcelona (2013-2017)
186
105
76
Paris Saint-Germain (2017-2023)
173
118
77
Was the failed move best for both sides?
While there are no doubts that Neymar would have certainly starred in east London, the downsides of the move could have been damaging in terms of the financial weight that the Brazilian would have carried with him.
With Neymar being able to fulfil his stardom at some of the biggest clubs in the world, West Ham have gone through several rebuilding periods which have recently resulted in appearances in a number of European competitions, which of course led to their success in the 2022/23 Europa Conference League run.
Following his move to Saudi Arabia, the 31-year-old still has plenty of time left in his career, while the future is looking promising for Moyes and his side, who look forward to competing in the Europa League this season.
