West Ham have been warned off making a move for Yaya Toure, with club legend and World Cup winner Sir Geoff Hurst claiming the former Manchester City man would be “a very, very poor decision”.
The Ivorian midfielder is available as a free agent this summer after reaching the end of his contract at the Etihad Stadium.
He landed two Premier League titles and the FA Cup with City, having previously won La Liga and the Champions League with Barcelona, and is considered to be an iconic figure within English football.
Toure is, however, now 35 years of age and has held nothing back in a rather blunt assessment of former manager Pep Guardiola since finding himself without a club.
Hammers hero Hurst believes a combination of those factors make a summer move to bring him to the London Stadium the wrong call for Manuel Pellegrini’s side, telling the Daily Star: “When I see them linked with Toure I just think that’s completely and utterly off the wall.
“I absolutely cannot believe as a club we’re looking at him.
“We bought the full-back - Ryan Fredericks - from Fulham which was terrific.
“But looking at Toure - with his comments about Pep Guardiola and the business with his birthday cake a few years ago - for West Ham to even think about talking to him is a very, very poor decision.
“There comes a time when a player is past his best and we shouldn’t be buying cast-offs from other teams.”
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While urging West Ham to overlook Toure, former England international Hurst has also advised the club to shelve interest in Arsenal midfielder Jack Wilshere.
He is another who could be available for nothing this summer, but his injury issues make him a gamble for anybody considering an approach.
Hurst added: “Wilshere is injury prone and you don’t want to sign players like that. We’ve already got Andy Carroll.
“Wilshere again for me is a complete no. There’s enough players in the world. West Ham don’t need to sign cast-offs, injured players and players that are too old.
“For God’s sake surely we have enough money to buy a bit of quality.”
