Ex-Chelsea defender Frank Leboeuf claims that his former club should have bought James Ward-Prowse before West Ham secured his signature in the summer.

The Hammers paid £30m to snap up the 28-year-old from Southampton and he has proven to be an outstanding purchase so far, scoring 2 goals and contributing 5 assists in his first 7 appearances. Leboeuf told CasinosEnLigne.com that he wanted Chelsea to sign him, along with Tottenham’s James Maddison and Aston Villa’s Youri Tielemans:

“I look at Ward-Prowse and Maddison and they’re doing so well. I have no idea why Chelsea didn’t move for either of those.”

“They should have phoned me! Why is Ward-Prowse not in the squad? There are a few others, too, like Tielemans and Maddison. Chelsea missed out on these players as they could have served Chelsea well.”

It should be noted that Chelsea had a policy of signing players aged 25 or under so there was never any chance that Ward-Prowse would have ended up at Stamford Bridge anyway, leaving West Ham to reap the benefits.

West Ham’s summer signings have hit the ground running

Many supporters were pessimistic about the Irons’ chances of performing well this season, especially after the departure of club captain Declan Rice to Arsenal.

What added to the gloom was the fact that David Moyes’s side didn’t make a major signing before August 10th; just 2 days before the start of the new campaign.

However, Ward-Prowse, along with other new additions such as Edson Alvarez, have made an instant impact.

The Hammers have fared better than Chelsea

Despite their London rivals spending nearly £400m during the summer transfer window, West Ham are already 8 points ahead of the Blues in the table (prior to the Fulham game on Monday night).

It does show you that smart recruitment really pays dividends, and there is no better example of that than Ward-Prowse.

Who were the winners and losers from the summer transfer window? Watch this video on Shots! TV