Cellino: West Ham in "disastrous" situation but impressed by Hammers fans

Potential Upton Park buyer Massimo Cellino said West Ham's “situation is disastrous,” but the Cagliari chief was won over by their fans.

Cellino, the president of the Sardinian side is in the midst of a takeover bid for the Hammers said to be worth £100m.

According to Italian media reports, Cellino said, “If the deal goes through then good, if not then never mind. I will in any case become West Ham's new number one fan.”

“I am waiting for an answer and took the steps I needed to take. I did everything by the book.

“There are people who go around telling the newspapers that they are buying up clubs and then disappear, whereas I acted professionally by making the offer without talking to the press.

Commenting yesterday on the situation at West Ham, Cellino said, “I understand the difficulties of Gianfranco Zola's squad. I saw their situation is disastrous. They don't have a president or a club, they're left to their own devices and tomorrow have a difficult game against Aston Villa.

“I was very impressed by the Hammers fans. If I had them here at Cagliari, we'd be in the Champions League.”

Yesterday, Cagliari beat Livorno 3-0 and are in the race for a spot in Europe, currently sitting in sixth place in Serie A.