West Ham have a pretty good track record of finding and developing young talent.
After all, Moore, Peters and Hurst won the World Cup in 1966, which isn't bad. The bright young thing nowadays might be Joe Cole, but Rio Ferdinand held that title not so long ago, and still threatens to blossom as a truly world-class defender. A host of clubs, including Real Madrid and Barcelona, had been chasing the centre back, but in the end it was Leeds who produced the cheque book to seal a deal. Most surprising was that Leeds were prepared to smash not only the British transfer record, but also the world record fee for a defender to prise him away from Upton Park. The Elland Road outfit were prepared to pay 18m for Ferdinand , a fee which sent shockwaves through the footballing world.