WEST HAM are the biggest club in London if you take Chelsea out the mix, according to Gabby Agbonlahor.
The ex-Aston Villa star thinks not even fellow London bigwigs Arsenal or Tottenham can match up to the East London side at the moment.
The Hammers have long been also-rans in the capital, but Agbonlahor says the tide has turned under their current boss David Moyes.
And he may have a point as the Hammers finished above both Spurs and the Gunners in the Premier League last season.
Moyes’ side are also flying high in the Europa League, sitting at the top of their group with three wins in as many games, which proves his thesis, Agbonlahor believes.
While making the bold claims on talkSPORT, the retired striker said: “They’ve got a great squad of players, great manager at the moment.
“You’re looking at a team who’s going to keep getting into European places.
“And apart from Chelsea, for me, they’re the biggest club in London.”
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But to stay on Chelsea’s heels, Agbonlahor feels the Hammers need to cling onto Declan Rice, who’s been on Manchester United’s radar, and hot-shot striker Michail Antonio, who’s third top-scorer in the Prem right now.
And if they can retain their prize assets, the Hammers can start challenging for a Champions League spot in the top-tier of English football.
Agbonlahor added: “But they’ve got to hang on to Rice, hang on to Antonio, add more players to their squad and why can’t they start looking at top four?”
The Hammers are already aiming to trump both Spurs and Arsenal by having the biggest stadium out of the trio.
They were granted permission to add 2,500 more seats to their 60,000 capacity London Stadium earlier this week, in a move that will see them leapfrog Arsenal’s Emirates capacity of 62,062.
But West Ham aren’t stopping there and have already set the wheels in motion to extend their new capacity to 67,000, which will gazump Spurs’ White Hart Lane seat allocation of 62,850.
The Hammers could also soon be given a huge cash boost as it was reported yesterday that Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky is in advanced talks to buy a 27 per cent stake in the club.
And judging by the position the Hammers are in right now, Agbonlahor claims Kretinsky’s got the right idea because he’d invest in the club too if he was swimming in billions.
He added: “If I was a billionaire, I’d be thinking the club’s in the perfect place isn’t it?”
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
