West Ham have vowed to investigate alleged racist comments made by their director of transfers, Tony Henry.

A report from the _Daily Mail_ claims that Henry admitted the club do not sign African players as "they cause mayhem".

The club have issued a swift response to the story, with a statement reading: "West Ham United is an inclusive, respectful and diverse football club. Equality is at the heart of our ethos and values.

_The Daily Mail_ alleges that they have seen an email sent by Henry, which was in response to a question regarding a player of Cameroonian descent.

He is reported to have written: "We don’t want any more Africans and he’s not good enough. I sent Thomas to watch him and the other lad last week and he said no. If Palace take them good luck."

During an interview, Henry was asked if he had told agents and intermediaries that the club did not wish to sign players of African descent, and he replied: "Yeah. Because we had three and we felt we didn’t particularly want any more African players... It’s nothing racist at all. It’s just sometimes they can have a bad attitude."