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Now the silly season is well and truly upon us, West Ham are being linked with everyone and their dog, as we are during every off season.

Ninety nine per cent of it is just players’ agents putting out a few stories or rumours to try and get their player a better pay day. And there is always a long list of ex-West Ham players being linked with a return to the club. Last season it was Jermaine Defoe and Frank Lampard, January in was Michael Carrick. And now another old boy is being heavily linked with a return to his boyhood club.

That player is none other than Rio Ferdinand.

You have to of had your head in the sand to of failed to see the gossip columns and the ‘in the knows’ on social media harping on about the apparent return of Rio to the Boleyn Ground.

Now at the age of 35, he is not exactly ‘over the hill’ in terms of professional footballers who play in defence, as the likes of Stuart Pearce and Nigel Winterburn were still playing at the age of 39, so there’s life in the old dog yet. But can he still cut it at Premier league level himself?

If these stories came about three or four years ago I would have had him back at the club quicker than his feet would touch the ground, but over the last few years he has become slower and slower, often left flat footed and out of position.

He would command a weekly salary of somewhere between £80-100k-a-week, just to play half a dozen games before he gets injured and misses the next six months through injury.

Lately he seems to be very much like David Beckham. And by that I mean he seems to be more interested in fame, and becoming more famous for things like TV and fashion, than he is interested in the game that made him famous in the first place.

All players need a career after finishing with football, but 95% of them leave it until AFTER they have finished playing before they venture down various different avenues of employment.

So some West Ham would like to see Rio pull on the Hammers shirt once more , but I however would expect to see him cross the pond and ply his trade in America for a few more years.

No offence Rio, but I don’t want to see my club go backwards in order to try and go forwards.

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