Marseille centre-back Duje Caleta-Car will not be joining West Ham United on transfer deadline day.
That’s according to a report from Sport Witness who claim that they’ve been told that there is no chance that the 25-year-old will be moving to the London Stadium today.
Hammers boss David Moyes has been trying to bring a top-class central defender to East London since Angelo Ogbonna was ruled out for the season.
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Kurt Zouma has recently returned to action but we are still incredibly light in the central defensive department.
Issa Diop has been woeful since filling in for Zouma at the start of December and we are only one central defensive injury away from having to play the 25-year-old again.
Duje Caleta-Car is a man who has been consistently linked with a move to West Ham recently (Tuttomercatoweb and The Daily Mail amongst others).
The Croatian international would be an undoubted upgrade on Issa Diop.
It seems as though we could be out of luck though…
West Ham to fail with Caleta-Car deadline day swoop
Sport Witness claim that they’ve been told that there is no chance that the 25-year-old will leave Marseille to join the Hammers on transfer deadline day.
And if true, that is a real shame. Caleta-Car would have been a fine addition to Moyes’s ranks at the London Stadium.
The 25-year-old is tall and commanding in the air and very comfortable with the ball at his feet as well. He is a very strong all-round defender and he would improve the Hammers’ back-line immeasurably. Well-renowned football analysis and scouting website IBWM recently described Caleta-Car as an ‘exceptional talent’.
According to a report from The Daily Mail, the Ligue 1 outfit were demanding £15 million for the 25-year-old centre-back.
That really is peanuts in this day and age.
It’s such a shame that West Ham were not prepared to pay that kind of money for someone who is a proven international central defender.
Perhaps we will return for Caleta-Car in the summer. This transfer deadline day already has a fairly ominous feeling about it unfortunately…
Read also:
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West Ham launch ‘shock’ enquiry for £33m Premier League winger journalist claims
Report: West Ham prepared to sell 25-year-old to PL club for £15m loss, on one condition