Charlie Austin is not a happy bunny.
The QPR striker who bagged an impressive 18 Premier League goals in his first season in England's top-flight was recently a target for West Ham United, but no deal could be arranged as The Hammers were unwilling to meet his £15m release clause.
The reason they wouldn't stump up the cash? They didn't fancy his injury record, according to David Sullivan, who explained why they cooled their interest in on the 'Knees Up Mother Brown' podcast, where he talked very candidly about his feelings on Austin:
They say he has no ligaments in his knee, who knows?
To sign a £15m player is a big risk. He could go on for years, but knowing our luck his knee will go in his first game and that's the end of it. If we had £100m to spend we may say 'we'll spend £15m and gamble one-sixth of our budget'. But it's not one-sixth of our budget, it'd smash our budget to bits.
And he didn't keep Queens Park Rangers up. If he'd kept them up single-handedly you might say it was different - and a few of those goals were penalties.
"A few of those goals were penalties" sounds more like the reasoning of a frustrated 14 year old after their club pulled out of a deal, rather than a Premier League club owner, but Austin caught wind of the comments and he was not impressed one bit.
— Charlie Austin (@chazaustin9) August 20, 2015
West Ham are still believed to be looking to bring a striker to the club before the transfer window closes, but it's definitely not going to be Austin, that's for sure.
David Sullivan doesn't really filter his opinions, but was he out of order in this instance? Some would say it's refreshing to hear an owner give his honest opinion rather than just trot out the usual media friendly dross, but surely he could have been more sensitive to a professional who is looking for a new club.
via Talksport.com
