West Ham manager David Moyes says he was shocked by comments made against African players by one of the club’s officials.
Moyes said the comments were “wrong” and do not reflect the views of the club.
“The comments are wrong. We were trying to sign two players from Africa on deadline day so I can only say they are wrong,” said Moyes.
He was responding to comments made by now-suspended West Ham director of player recruitment Tony Henry, suggesting the club would not sign any more African players because they "cause mayhem" when they are not in the team.
Moyes said his club’s transfer policy was open.
“We have an open transfer policy and you can see the players we have signed over the years. We sign good quality players, the best players available, it doesn’t matter where they are from,” said the former Everton, Manchester United and Sunderland manager.
West Ham is one of the most African friendly teams in the premier league this season with six players of African descent.
This season African players make up about 8% of the total players in the league.
Asked about the impact the comments have had on his squad ahead of his team’s clash against Brighton on Saturday, Moyes said he had talked to the African players whom he said were coping fine with the situation.
“I spoke with one or two of the African players and they seem fine. They trained well in the last couple of days. Morale in the camp is good,” he said.
In addition, he said African players had made a great contribution to the Premier League.
“My first African player was Joseph Yobo. It was only last year when I went to Nigeria to Joseph’s testimonial and it was really good. I have also signed Steve Piennar three times. I don’t think there’s any club in the country that gets more African players than West Ham,” said Moyes.
He added: “Over my time we’ve had good African players and bad African players just like we’ve had good Scottish players and bad Scottish players as well, no difference.”
