West Ham's Kieron Dyer will have cost the club £30 million by the time his contract is up, even though he has started only five games for the club.

The Hammers bought the injury-prone midfielder on a four-year contract from Newcastle for £7 million in August 2007, and handed him a £70,000-a-week despite the club's medical team expressing concerns at time.

West Ham also had to pay £1m in agents' fees to push the deal through, which means that with wages and bonuses included the entire deal will cost the Hammers around £30m.

The transfer was fast tracked before the transfer deadline because the club's new Icelandic owner Bjorgolfur Gudmundsson was keen to show off new signings at the time.

Gudmundsson, who was said to have had a net worth of over a $1 billion just two years ago, was declared bankrupt by the Icelandic courts last July with debts of almost £500 million.

West Ham have since been taken over by former Birmingham owners David Sullivan and David Gold, with Sullivan revealing that the club's finances are now "in a mess".

Dyer, who has 33 caps for England, has endured a disastrous time at Upton Park after breaking his leg in two places just 10 days after his debut.

It took 17 months before he returned to the Hammers' line-up but his comeback bids have been continually halted by hamstring injuries.

He has made just 18 appearances since signing for the London club and just five Premier League starts. He has yet to score a goal for the club.

Eurosport

And there was me thinking he was always useless!!