West Ham came close to signing Alex Song on a permanent deal from Barcelona but it seems clear that the Hammers dodged a bullet when he failed his medical, as he is now plying his trade in Djibouti.
What happened with Alex Song at West Ham?
Song was a Cameroonian midfielder who first came to prominence with Arsenal, where he would enjoy comfortably the best spell of his footballing career.
The Gunners would sign him from SC Bastia in 2004 and it didn’t take long for him to become a regular under legendary manager Arsene Wenger, making 204 appearances in total, in which he contributed ten goals and 23 assists.
This attracted the attention of Barcelona in 2012 and he would complete a move to the Catalan club in a deal worth £15m.
However, despite joining one of the best teams in history, it seems as if Song was motivated by money, rather than winning trophies and playing good football at the Nou Camp.
He admitted in a 2022 interview that he didn’t care that he wouldn’t feature in many games for the La Liga giants, suggesting that once he knew he would become a millionaire, the move was a no-brainer.
However, Barcelona decided quickly that Song wasn’t at the required level to play, as he managed just 65 appearances, before joining the Hammers on loan for the 2014/15 campaign.
After making 31 appearances in all competitions, Song had clearly done enough to impress and a deal was agreed for him to join permanently on a free transfer, but he failed his medical and instead re-joined for another year on loan.
However, his game time was severely limited that term, as he made just 12 appearances in the Premier League before returning to Spain the following summer, when he eventually got his move away from the club, joining Rubin Kazan on a free transfer.
The 35-year-old hardly set the world alight during his time in Russia, making just 23 appearances before a move to Switzerland with FC Sion, and later, rather bizarrely to AS Arta/Solar7 in Djibouti.
Considering how quickly his career has declined, as well as his own admission about being money motivated, it seems clear that West Ham dodged a bullet by only signing Song on loan, rather than a permanent transfer back in 2015.