West Ham United striker Javier Hernandez is causing behind-the-scenes conflict due to the high wage that he is currently on, according to an insider.
exWHUemployee – a reliable source of news on the Hammers – revealed in the ‘West Ham Way‘ podcast that the rest of the team are up in arms about the £145,000 [the Sun] figure Hernandez earns per week, despite him not playing regularly for the first team.
The insider adds that the atmosphere in the dressing room is a “little bit toxic”, especially among those players who star for the starting XI on a regular basis.
“The problem we’ve got with him [Hernandez] is that he’s our highest paid player and he doesn’t play. So that causes an issue with those players who do play regularly,” he said on the podcast.
“Just by having him there, on the bench, earning that money and not playing and scoring, then other players start to think: ‘well if this player’s on £145,000 a week, then I should be on that or more’ and so it’s almost becoming a little bit toxic indirectly by having him there.
“I couldn’t wait for him to sign. But you look back and you think: ‘okay, maybe it is time for him to go now in January’.”
OPINION
It is not really a surprise that the West Ham players who play regularly are up in arms about the wages of Hernandez – and it is difficult not to agree with them. The Mexican international has hardly featured for the first team this season, so it is not easy to understand why he is still on such high wages. Marko Arnautovic is also a player on a similar wage to the 30-year-old, but that is understandable seeming as he is the Hammers’ main talisman. Players like Declan Rice, who is on far lower than Hernandez, has been pivotal in the team’s turnaround of success this season, and he is definitely someone who will not be happy about the current situation. Either the club need to lower Hernandez’ wages, or they bin him in January – otherwise Manuel Pellegrini may lose the faith of the dressing room, and that is the last thing that he would want to happen.