West Ham United head coach Julen Lopetegui really dug his heels in on transfer deadline day regarding one specific player it seems.
Julen Lopetegui completed a major squad overhaul at West Ham in the summer, bringing in nine brilliant new players.
Whilst the summer was a hectic one in general, deadline day was fairly quiet in East London, when it came to player arrivals at least.
Carlos Soler was the only new signing Lopetegui got through the door on August 30th, whilst he rejected the chance to sign Raheem Sterling at the last minute.
Many players left on loan deals though, including the likes of Kurt Zouma, Nayef Aguerd, Maxwel Cornet and James Ward-Prowse.
Another Hammer easily could have left for pastures new as well, but he was seemingly prevented from doing so.
Julen Lopetegui blocked West Ham ace’s exit on deadline day
The Spaniard moved on plenty of deadwood in the summer, with a whole host of fringe players leaving the club on deadline day.
However, it seems like one more player could have left the club four days ago, only to be told that he wasn’t going anywhere.
According to a report from Austrian website Laola 1, Lopetegui blocked Andy Irving from joining Champions League club Sturm Graz on transfer deadline day.
Celtic made an approach to sign West Ham midfielder Andy Irving on deadline day as well, but he remained at the London Stadium in the end.
The midfielder is still yet to play a competitive minute for the Hammers first-team, so it was a big surprise when he remained at the club beyond the end of the window.
And it seems like Lopetegui really wanted to keep hold of him.
Andy Irving a West Ham enigma
It was a huge shock when West Ham signed the 24-year-old midfielder in the summer of 2023, before immediately loaning him back to SK Austria Klagenfurt.
The majority of Hammers fans openly admitted that they had never heard of Irving, and I was certainly one of them!
Since that day, he has become somewhat of mythical, cult figure at the London Stadium.
The Scot actually enjoyed a decent pre-season campaign with the Hammers under Lopetegui.
However, he’s nowhere near good enough to be playing for a Premier League side chasing the European places, in my opinion anyway.
The fact that Julen Lopetegui kept Andy Irving at West Ham on deadline day is just bizarre to me. He’s the sixth choice central midfielder behind Edson Alvarez, Guido Rodriguez, Tomas Soucek, Lucas Paqueta and Carlos Soler.
I just can’t envisage a scenario whereby he plays any football at all this season. Maybe he’ll prove me wrong, but I doubt it.
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