West Ham’s winter dealings were severely hampered because of the change of Manager – Lopetegui was fired and Graham Potter installed right slap bang in the middle of the January transfer window. In Potter’s absence, Vice Chair Karren Brady had tried and failed to negotiate the purchase of Ezechiel Banzuzi.
The only incoming during the window turned out to be Evan Ferguson on loan: Clearly West Ham fans attributed Ferguson’s arrival down to some connection with Potter who gave the youngster his debut, several years earlier when he was Brighton’s head coach.
Mysteriously, Ferguson hasn’t featured at all and the loan spell goes into the books as another Hammers’ disaster – almost as bad as the Kalvin Phillips deal under David Moyes.
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What makes the whole affair worse for Ferguson is that he had other clubs vying for his signature and – right up until the last minute – could have gone to Manchester United or Chelsea in January.
In a report this evening, Irish outlet the42.ie confirms:
“Chelsea remained the preferred destination for the player, right up until the night before he was actually was due for a medical at West Ham…However, West Ham’s pursuit was almost hijacked by [Manchester] United who made “firm advances” to sign Ferguson that the 20-year-old striker almost rejected the Hammers in favour of a last-gasp switch to Old Trafford.”
How Ferguson must rue that decision now: Frozen out by Potter, he could have been playing in European finals for Chelsea or United instead of warming the bench at London stadium.