West Ham have been linked with a number of right-backs this week but Man United’s Aaron Wan-Bissaka has sparked speculation he’s finally close to joining.
Speculation has been rife that Aaron Wan-Bissaka will finally join West Ham from Man United this week.
The move has been in the offing for the best part of two months and should, realistically, have been easy enough to do for West Ham and Manchester United.
Especially as the Red Devils want to raise money and free up space to fund their own move for Noussair Mazraoui.
INEOS have made it clear they will not be allowing players to run down their contracts at Old Trafford.
And West Ham are actively targeting players entering the last year of their deals.
Perseverance and severance in West Ham deal with Man United
Hence the interest in Wan-Bissaka who, as a result, is within their price rage at between £15-18m.
At the weekend the top spokesman inside the club told Hammers News that West Ham are hoping to ‘crack on’ with the signing of Wan-Bissaka this week.
The issue reportedly holding up a deal is £3m in severance Wan-Bissaka and his agent Will Salthouse want to be paid by Man United.
Given Salthouse’s close ties to West Ham majority owner David Sullivan, that wasn’t expected to scupper the deal.
But West Ham have started to turn to other right-back targets this week if reports are to be believed.
Namely Newcastle’s Kieran Trippier and Girona’s Arnau Martinez.
But Man United star Wan-Bissaka has sparked speculation he’s close to joining West Ham.
Wan-Bissaka sparks speculation he’s close to joining West Ham
The senior Manchester United writer on the Manchester Evening News is Steven Railston.
He claimed yesterday that Wan-Bissaka was absent from Man United training.
Given the talk he could be on the verge of joining West Ham, that did not go unnoticed in east London.
Erik ten Hag addressed Wan-Bissaka’s absence in a press conference.
The Dutchman admitted Wan-Bissaka is a doubt for Man United’s Community Shield clash with Man City.
Ten Hag said Wan-Bissaka is a ‘question mark’ for the game but did not specify as to why.
Although it is reasonable to assume it is injury that is keeping the West Ham target away from Man United training after he suffered a knock in the pre-season defeat to Liverpool last time out.
So any excitement in West Ham circles about Wan-Bissaka’s absence from training looks misplaced.
West Ham’s poor performances in pre-season have highlighted the fact Julen Lopetegui sorely needs a new right-back and at least one more central defender.
There was encouragement for West Ham regarding Wan-Bissaka yesterday when it was confirmed Man United had snubbed Inter Milan’s offer to swap Denzel Dumfries for the 26-year-old former Palace star.
It was even claimed West Ham are prioritising selling Wan-Bissaka to West Ham so they can sign Mazraoui as soon as possible.
This is not the first time transfer negotiations between the Hammers and Red Devils have become a long drawn-out saga.
Moves for Harry Maguire and Jesse Lingard followed a similar pattern before collapsing too.
West Ham will be hoping this time it is different for Wan-Bissaka.
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