Source: Daily_Mail
West Ham up Chamakh bid as Black Cats reignite scrap with Bordeaux
West Ham United have increased their bid to more than £5million plus future incentives for Bordeaux striker Marouane Chamakh.
The east London club are in pole position to sign the Morocco international following Arsenal's decision to wait and see if they can get him on a free next summer.
Sunderland boss Steve Bruce, who had been keen on Chamakh until he signed Darren Bent from Tottenham Hotspur, has hit back at claims his club were too small for Chamakh to join.
Bordeaux boss Laurent Blanc insisted he would block a deal with theWearsiders, though the French champions' president Jean-Louis Triaudlater said he had written a letter of apology to Bruce.
'Neverhas a fellow manager been so disrespectful,' Bruce is quoted as sayingby French media today. 'Blanc has insulted our club.
'I don't know if Bordeaux are a big club, but in terms of influence and wealth, they are a dwarf in Europe. The day that Bordeaux attract as many supporters as Sunderland, then he can talk.'
Fulham are also interested in Chamakh and a potential swap deal with Diomansy Kamara has been mooted, but the Senegal international doubts that Blanc wants him.
'My representatives have been on the phone with Triaud,' said Kamara.
'But Laurent Blanc hasn't called me. And when a coach doesn't phone you, that signifies that a club doesn't really want you.
'It would have been an honour for me to be coached by Laurent Blanc. But my priority now is Fulham. We must stop talking about me at Bordeaux.'
Bordeaux are keen to sell now rather than lose Chamakh for nothing when his contract runs out next summer. They had valued the 25-year-old at £15m and rejected the Hammers initial bid of £4.3m plus a 50 per cent sell-on clause.
But Gianfranco Zola's men are believed to have upped the initial fee to about £5.2m.
Reports in France say Bordeaux have lined up 28-year-old Bolton Wanderers striker Johan Elmander as a potential replacement.
