EXCLUSIVE: West Ham have responded to criticism after being slammed over the Said Benrahma and Pablo Fornals deals.
West Ham’s deadline day descended into farce on and off the pitch last night.
Said Benrahma was in France, in full Lyon kit, about to take part in a live unveiling after a deal was agreed with West Ham.
And Pablo Fornals was set to return to Spain for a reunion with Manuel Pellegrini at Real Betis.
Fornals was then seen in the West Ham squad for the game against Bournemouth, only to be withdrawn at the last minute amid conflicting reports over the status of his transfer.
Meanwhile the Hammers had admitted defeat in their efforts to sign the attacking player David Moyes wanted.
D-Day farce for Hammers
Moyes responded by starting FOUR central midfielders together as West Ham put in another turgid display in a fortunate draw with the Cherries.
The real drama was to come, though, as the clock ticked down on the window after the game.
Reports abound that the Benrahma’s move to Lyon had collapsed and there was deathly silence on the Fornals transfer.
Lyon and Real Betis then issued damning statements criticising West Ham for their conduct and failure to do the necessary administration at their end for the transfers to go through.
West Ham respond after being slammed over deals
In a strongly worded statement, Lyon were particularly scathing, labelling West Ham’s behaviour “incomprehensible”, adding: “Olympique Lyonnais deeply regrets this situation and this decision, demonstrating a profound lack of respect on the part of West Ham towards the institution and the player.”
The issue, according to reports, seems to centre around FIFA’s Transfer Matching System with claims it wasn’t working at West Ham’s end.
Cynics suggest the Hammers hierarchy took one look at the performance of the team with no recognised left-sided player and tanked the transfers.
Well now West Ham have responded to the criticism after being slammed over the Benrahma and Fornals deals.
‘Trying to find out’
Responding to a request from Hammers News for an explanation on the situation, the club’s most senior spokesperson said: “We are all trying to find out what went wrong.”
Speaking in his pre-Man United press conference this morning, Moyes could offer little more insight.
But the Hammers boss believes the Fornals deal may yet be cleared.
“It looks like there have been some problems with the paperwork [for Benrahma] at the last minute,” Moyes said, as reported on the club’s official website.
“But I only learned about it when I came off the pitch late last night.
“I think there is a chance the Pablo deal will be ratified. I can’t confirm if it will or it not at the moment though.”
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