It would be fair to say that Igor Julio’s move to West Ham United did not work out as planned.
Igor, who played for Fiorentina as West Ham beat the Italians in the Conference League final back in 2023, joined the Hammers on loan from Brighton in September.
Still, the Brazilian made only five appearances for the Irons and was duly sent back to the south coast earlier this week.
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Not to knock him as a player, but he’s hardly played in months!
Given his lack of action in east London, it would seem unlikely that Igor will get much of a chance under Fabian Hurzeler at the Amex Stadium.
Igor’s return is an interesting one, for both West Ham and Brighton. Indeed, West Ham want to sign Charlie Cresswell from Toulouse, while the south coast club have also been linked.
Now, Hurzeler has another centre-back to deal with amid the Cresswell links, which cannot make things easy.
Speaking on Friday, the German provided an update.
Fabian Hurzeler speaks on Igor Julio and Charlie Cresswell
Brighton host Everton on Saturday, a few hours before West Ham play Chelsea in a huge London derby at Stamford Bridge.
Ahead of all the weekend action, Hurzeler was asked about Igor’s availability, having only returned from West Ham earlier this week.
He said: “Yeah, he will be available for this weekend.”
When asked about the reported interest in Cresswell, Hurzeler added: “I think there’s a lot of rumours going on but that’s for the long-term future. Now, really, we should focus on the short-term future where we try to make the best decisions for the players and for the club.”
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The latest on Charlie Cresswell amid West Ham links
So, Igor wasn’t the answer for West Ham – and it will be interesting to see if he can convince now that he’s at Brighton.
If he does, Hammers fans will no doubt be wondering why he wasn’t given more of a chance in east London.
Cresswell, on the other hand, may be a solution.
An unnamed Premier League club has made a bid for Cresswell, although it’s not believed to have matched the valuation Toulouse have of the player.
It remains to be seen if the Hammers make their move.
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