Diame agent leaked bogus bid reports- Allardyce

West Ham manager Sam Allardyce has lashed out at Mohammed Diame's agent, Willie McKay after the club managed to retain the services of the midfielder on the last day of the January transfer window.

With just under two hours to go to the closing of the window, Sky Sports reported that the 25 year old's release clause (believed to be in the region of £5 million) had been triggered by a bid from another club. Such reports were comprehensively denied by Hammers co-chairmen David Sullivan and David Gold, and West Ham boss Allardyce believes he knows exactly where the source of these reports lies. "It was agents trying to create a frenzy and seeing if they can create something out of nothing," the manager told London 24. "I think, in general, what becomes public knowledge (with regard to transfers) always comes from agents. You're not going to get it from a football club so the only place you're going to get it from is from the player himself or his agent. But the fact nobody triggered Momo Diame's release clause is the reason he's still here."

Allardyce stopped just short of naming McKay by name, but this outburst by the West Ham manager confirms what we all suspected anyway- that the man pulling the strings in the Diame saga across the whole of January was not the player himself, but his "Mr Fixit" character of an agent. This comes the day after Irons co-chairman David Sullivan revealed that he and an unnamed player had been threatened with physical violence by an agent angry at being cut out of a deal. Sullivan stated that he "could see it (agents' role in football) spilling over in violence unless the FA take action now," so the huge power agents enjoy in football, particularly during the transfer window, is clear for all to say- as is the danger of this power.

Big Sam remained coy on the subject of a new contract for Diame; amid reports on deadline day that the player had held talks at the club over a new deal; having had an original new contract withdrawn by the club after no agreement could be reached. The Irons chief stated that "we have already tried to tie him down to a new deal- at the end of the day, we'll see what happens between now and the end of the season." Watch this space you Irons...

By Alex Shilling