A week is a long time in transfer land. Seven days ago it seemed as though the Hammers were well on track to get their man. An offer had been made. and rejected, but the two clubs were reported as talking. West Ham had apparently made up their mind that ‘there’ was the forward they needed to prioritise in the summer window.
Fast forward to this afternoon and news out of Turkey is not so great: Galatasaray’s President has tried to shut down any talk of his prized asset Baris Alper Yilmaz being sold this summer.
In an exercise in plain speaking which even Google Translate has managed to interpret, Galatasaray’s President Durban Uzbek couldn’t have been clearer:
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“We do not intend to sell any of our players whose contracts are ongoing in our squad. Our goals are big. Barış Alper [Yilmaz] is also a very valuable football player who has a share in our victories.” (Sabak.com.tr)
So, it would seem, back to the drawing board. The Hammers have lost no time in identifying a handful of targets – Lucas Stassin is currently the man in the news but another hatfull will surely be the subject of ‘reports’ before the Hammers finally get their main men for next season.