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Joel Piroe takes bizarre swipe after swapping Leeds United for West Ham

LeedsAllOver · Niall Togher · 2026-09-04T17:20:31+00:00 · nguồn gốc

Joel Piroe was one of the many players Leeds United got rid of this summer. Although the forward only joined West Ham on loan initially, if the Hammers get promoted as we expect them to, we will get around £12million for Piroe. For a player who looked a million miles off the pace when he featured for us in the Premier League, this would be an incredible piece of business from the 49ers. But following his recent exit, Piroe made some baffling comments that will certainly raise a few eyebrows. Joel Piroe makes a pair of interesting admissions In a recent interview with ESPN, it doesn’t seem as if Piroe is particularly missing life in Leeds. “London is of course a much nicer city than Leeds,” Piroe started off by saying. But the striker didn’t stop there; he then went on to take a dig at his new club, West Ham. “West Ham has a Premier League-worthy team. If you just look at the stadium… Sold out, 60,000 fans, that’s not really normal in the Championship. Especially in London, where West Ham United is not the biggest or most favourite club,” Piroe said. I mean, you could argue that nothing Piroe said was wrong. But to take a dig at a city that welcomed you with open arms is bizarre. Just say you enjoy living in London. There’s no reason why he has to say it’s better than Leeds. But West Ham’s PR team will surely be cringing after reading the next bit. Of course the Hammers aren’t the biggest or most popular club in London. But just after you’ve signed for them, you don’t come out and say that! Whilst he didn’t take a swipe at Leeds as a club, talking down about the city certainly isn’t nice. All I’m going to say is, Piroe, for someone who was very poor in his general play for most of his Leeds appearances, is lucky we still backed him as a fanbase. It’s clear he’s not a Premier League footballer. But that didn’t stop us from signing his name every time he was subbed on at Elland Road. I have a feeling the West Ham fan base will not be as patient with the striker if their promotion push goes down to the wire, or if they do go up and they have to watch Piroe fail miserably when attempting to lead the line in the Premier League. Joel Piroe has made a solid start to life at West Ham In three Championship appearances so far, Piroe has one goal. However, only two of his appearances were starts. So far, the 27-year-old has accumulated an xG of just 0.73, so with the service he has been given so far, he’s done well. (Sofascore) Hopefully he can fire West Ham back into the Premier League so we can get that handsome fee for him. The last thing I want is to see Piroe back at Leeds, and his recent comments about the city have only amplified this feeling. It was funny to see the West Ham fans on social media in the aftermath of one of their games debate whether Piroe is a striker or a number ten. A spoiler for any West Ham fans reading this: he’s neither, really. He will get you goals, but as Leeds fans, we know that no matter where you play him, he just tends to ghost in games without providing any sort of outlet up top. I don’t think Piroe’s comments are enough to completley taint his relationship with Leeds fans. But Piroe’s comments likely won’t go down well in West Yorkshire.