Despite reported interest from Porto, Fenerbahce, Borussia Dortmund and Ajax, it appears that Edson Alvarez’s much-mooted West Ham United departure is not quite as close as some had suggested.
Fabrizio Romano claimed on Monday night that Jose Mourinho’s Fenerbahce had opened talks to bring the Mexico captain to the Super Lig runners-up.
One of the top sources in Turkish football – Yagiz Sabuncuoglu – then followed up Romano’s initial report by saying that Fenerbahce were set to sign Edson Alvarez on loan with an option-to-buy clause in his contract. Not only that, the Istanbul giants were ready to take over his £100,000-a-week contract.
If that all seemed too good to be true though, well, there’s probably a good reason why.
The top spokesman for West Ham United’s board has since told Hammers News that reports of an imminent departure are ‘not true’.
Edson Alvarez has not decided on Fenerbahce. And, what’s more, reports of a loan-to-buy offer are understood to be wide of the mark.
Something which can be reported with a great deal more clarity, however, is that a return to Ajax can be ruled out at this stage.
Edson Alvarez during Wolverhampton Wanderers FC v West Ham United FC - Premier League
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West Ham United demands make Edson Alvarez ‘not acceptable’ for Ajax
While The Guardian claim that Porto and long-time admirers Borussia Dortmund are hoping to take the £20 million-rated Alvarez on loan, the Mexican’s old Amsterdam-based employers know when they are beaten.
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Edson Alvarez’s agent was pessimistic about Ajax’s chances when talking to ESPN last week. ‘Difficult but not impossible’ is how Nathan van Kooperen described it.
Even that now feels somewhat overconfident.
Reporter Cristian Willaert tells ESPN, in an update provided on Wednesday morning, that Alvarez is simply ‘too popular’ among more deep-pocketed clubs to make a second spell at the Johan Cryuff Arena possible.
“The current situation seems to be such that Edson Alvarez absolutely wants to leave because he’s not playing under Graham Potter,” Dutch football pundit Hans Kraay Jr agrees.
“He earns about six million euros [a year]. Apparently, West Ham want to loan him out for free but Ajax would then have to pay the full salary. That’s not really acceptable in Ajax’s salary structure.”
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Ajax told to sign NEC Nijmegen ace rather than West Ham midfielder
Kraay does feel that there may still be a glimmer of hope, albeit only if West Ham soften their stance and agree to stump up half of Alvarez’s wages during a temporary stint in Amsterdam.
For obvious reasons, that is not an idea the Hammers are particularly open to with interest also on the table from Porto, Dortmund and Fenerbahce.
Valentijn Driessen, another of the Netherlands’ finest pundits, also tells De Telegraaf that Ajax would be ‘throwing six million euros [£5.2 million] down the drain’ signing Alvarez on loan when other, cheaper options are available.
Driessen puts forward Kodi Sano of NEC Nijmegen as an example.