The player left Nottingham Forest - whose boss, Paul Hart, was at West Ham reserve team clash with Arsenal on Tuesday night - for St. James' Park and Paul says: "I don't think it was any secret we were very keen to be in the situation, but unfortunately we were unable to move on it in any way."
Paul says that Jermaine moved for a package which might one day be worth £5m, rather than the outright fee of that figure which has often been quoted since the deal went ahead, and he adds: "We will be very interested in watching his porgress and hope we haven't lost out too much. "They tell me that West Ham might have had the chance to buy Kieron Dyer when he left Ipswich and comparisons have been made.
"We think he has got the potential to be as breathtaking as Dyer although he is not ready made. He is only 18 but has played a lot of football this year - and I would have liked it to have been at our place."
Paul thinks there is something of a dearth of homegrown talent and adds: "Not often does a young Englishman come to the fore like Jermaine Jenas has in recent years, and when you get one showing that ability it soon gets recognised.
"There are not another half a dozen versions of Jermain Jenas around."