Meet the man behind West Ham's famed academy

“I have never totted it up, that’s the god’s honest truth,” Tony Carr tells Sky Sports. “Some fees are not published so I never bothered. If I had been on commission I might have done!”

Now 71, Carr is reflecting on his 43 years at West Ham and the talent he helped to develop while in charge of the club's famed academy. The first was Paul Allen, sold to Tottenham for £400,000 in 1985. "A big fee at the time for a young player."

The next might be Declan Rice, although David Moyes is quoting £150m for that particular transfer. "I think what David is saying, and I don't want to speak for him, is hands off!" In between, there was Frank Lampard and Rio Ferdinand, Michael Carrick and Joe Cole.

The total might have been even higher. "That one with Michael sticks in my throat even now," says Carr, referring to the £3m fee received from Tottenham. They later sold him to Manchester United for £18m. "We were held to ransom a bit. We were mugged."

Others did not attract such attention but still rankle, such as Chris Cohen, the midfielder sold to Yeovil while still a teenager before going on to play more than 300 games for Nottingham Forest. "I just thought we sold him too early, but you have no say in it."

Now Carr is having his say, telling his story in a well-received autobiography. It addresses his exit from West Ham at the outset, having been made redundant in 2016. "My only criticism is how it was done. It is water under the bridge now. I have no ill-feeling."

One of the reasons given was the owners were concerned about the production line. But James Tomkins was sold for £11m on the day he left. The sale of England midfielder Rice would break the British transfer record - 34 years after Tony Cottee's departure did the same.

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