Jonathan Calleri’s transfer situation is a frustrating situation for everyone involved. Not among West Ham’s initial choices, Calleri signed for the Hammers on loan in the summer window, and he wasn’t especially keen either.
Calleri is owned by a Uruguayan club called Maldonado, but will never play for them. It’s a vehicle for investors to bypass third party ownership and something Fifa really needs to get a grip on.
With his West Ham loan not working out, Calleri has been keen to return to former club Sao Paulo, but the investors want to keep him in Europe with the hope of a big payday sooner or later.
Calleri sounds like he’s given up the aim of returning to Sao Paulo in the current window, but he’s still promised the club’s fans, who adore him, that he’ll be going back eventually.
The West Ham player is quoted by Brazil’s Lance! as saying: “I tried everything, everything. But the group does not want me to go back to Brazil now. I can’t do anything else. One day I will return. It’s a promise.”
Guillermo Calleri, the player’s father, has been in heated talks with the investment group, and he added: “The time has come that there is nothing else to do, the decision of the group was this and it will not be possible to return Calleri at the moment. But let’s make it very clear, here’s a promise that at some point he will wear that shirt again. It’s a great love for this crowd and all these people. Thanks for everything.”
West Ham fans have understandably been frustrated with Calleri, but this is a young footballer being hawked around clubs as if he were a commodity.
Decisions to trust the group look to have backfired and it’s now the player’s career which is in danger of going further backwards.
