West Ham As A "Feeder Club"
A case may be made that West Ham has been a feeder team in recent years, that is, a club that provides quality players to other clubs for profit. Though not a club, the England national team includes various academy apprentices or graduates, including Rio Ferdinand, Michael Carrick, Frank Lampard, Joe Cole and Jermain Defoe.
This reputation probably began with the sale of Rio Ferdinand to Leeds in 2000. Since then, West Ham have sold six Academy "graduates" for transfer fees totalling over £50 million (including £18 million for Ferdinand, who was later sold on to Manchester United for £30 million). This amount is much greater than the club's own spending on players (most of which was financed by the above income), and many of the players are currently finding success with financially stronger clubs such as Chelsea and Manchester United who are two of four (Arsenal, Man City) Premiership clubs capable of flexing financial muscle, competing on a different level to most other teams.
Read more about this topic: The Academy Of Football
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