West Ham Come Painfully Close to Signing World Cup Goal Machine Miroslav Klose

Upton Park almost got their hands on this goal machine.

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West Ham have revealed that they were to sign Miroslav Klose, but his excellent performances in the World Cup have now made a deal unlikely.

The Hammers, who will officially unveil new manager Avram Grant before to the media at Upton Park today, are also looking less and less likely to sign the former Portsmouth loanee Frédéric Piquionne from French club Lyons.

West Ham’s co-owner David Sullivan has admitted that a deal to land Klose is unlikely to go through following the striker’s star performances in South Africa. Klose, 32, has scored four goals for Germany as they reached the semi-finals of the competition.

Klose’s club, Bayern Munich, were all set to let the striker quit on a free transfer after he scored just six goals in 38 appearances for the Bundesliga side last term. But Klose’s form in South Africa has left him just one goal short of Brazilian Ronaldo in the all-time World Cup scoring charts and as a result of his form, he may now look to move elsewhere in Europe.

“We had a deal in place before the World Cup, after he had a bad season in Germany. However, as a result of what he has done at the World Cup, it’s unlikely to happen,” Sullivan said. (Independent)

One wonders just how close the Upton Park outfit really were as David Sullivan has also stated his desire to sign Thierry Henry and Joe Cole, two other big name targets who may or may not have been close to completion.

One thing is for sure, the German would’ve been a big hit in the Premier League but it seems likely he will stay in the Bundesliga and may well get more first team chances next term after seeing his starts at the Allianz Arena taking by the likes of Olic, Muller and Gomez, who all enjoyed more first team football than the 32 year old Polish born striker.