Demba Ba reveals West Ham locked him in a CAR BOOT to smuggle him into the club in a desperate bid to keep his 2011 transfer from Hoffenheim under wraps as they battled relegation
- Demba Ba was secretly smuggled into West Ham's training ground via a car boot
- The striker recalled the uncomfortable ride as a friend drove him into the club
- Ba was worth the hassle though as he went on to score seven goals in 12 games
- Despite his goals, he was unable to keep West Ham up during his six months
Demba Ba has revealed that he was once locked in a car boot as West Ham United went to desperate attempts to keep his planned signing a secret.
The striker joined the Hammers from Hoffenheim at the start of 2011, with the club at the time in a scrap to avoid relegation.
His £3.5million transfer came shortly after a proposed move to then fellow Premier League outfit Stoke City collapsed following a failed medical.
Demba Ba has revealed the bizarre lengths West Ham went to in keeping his transfer a secret
But keeping the former Senegal international protected at all costs was not on West Ham's agenda.
To prevent waiting reporters from spotting his arrival at the club, he was forced to get a friend to smuggle him into the training ground.
Ba has now recalled the bizarre uncomfortable ride towards arriving in the Premier League.
Ba told The Athletic: 'They said they didn’t want journalists to find out, so I obeyed.
Ba enjoyed a productive time at the Hammers, scoring seven goals in just 12 top flight matches
'It wasn’t the biggest boot. It was like "boom, boom", I’m hitting my head at every corner.'
Despite then going on to bag a highly impressive seven goals in 12 games, Ba was unable to keep Avram Grant's side in the top flight as they ended up finishing rock bottom.
Ba added: 'It was a good dressing room but ultimately we didn’t have the necessary quality.'
The striker was quickly identified by fellow Premier League teams as an easy transfer target on a free, and he joined Newcastle United just six months after his arrival at Upton Park.
But he was unable to keep the Hammers in the top flight as they were relegated
After 29 goals in just 54 league games he was on the move again 18 months later, this time to Chelsea.
It was at the Blues where he is best remembered, having famously scored the goal off the back of Steven Gerrard's slip, countering to net at the Kop end to put Chelsea on their way to a 2-0 win at Anfield and all but deny Liverpool the Premier League title.
Ba though has insisted he was unaware of the significance behind his goal at the time.
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