West Ham’s decision to make an emergency transfer deadline-day swoop for Brighton defender Igor may have been forced, according to a report today.
Football League World claim the Hammers made a last-ditch attempt to sign Southampton defender Taylor Harwood-Bellis in a £20m deal.
Taylor Harwood-Bellis
West Ham made a £20m offer for Harwood-Bellis
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Now, I’m not entirely sure how many Southampton players West Ham bosses think we need, but there are already three on the books. To be fair, the new arrivals from the South Coast—Mateus Fernandes and Kyle Walker-Peters—don’t look too shabby at all, but trying to buy another relegated defender for £20m might not have been the wisest move.
The revelation at least supports reports that West Ham never had any intention of signing England Under-21 defender Charlie Cresswell, which always seemed unlikely.
The move for Harwood-Bellis was rejected by the Saints, which is hardly surprising given the terms offered by West Ham. The Hammers are reported to have made a bid of just £2.5m for a season-long loan, with an option to buy for £2.5m. Ouch.
Predictably, Southampton didn’t find the offer remotely tempting and decided to keep the England international. The rest, as they say, is history. Instead, the Irons turned to Brighton’s Brazilian defender Igor, bringing him in on loan for the season without any commitment to make the transfer permanent.