West Ham United have allegedly turned down the chance to sign talented Sao Paulo centre-back Luizao on a free transfer.
At the start of the season, Hammers boss David Moyes had somewhat of a central defensive crisis on his hands at the London Stadium.
The Scot had already brought Nayef Aguerd to West Ham but the Moroccan suffered a serious ankle injury during his second pre-season friendly outing for the club.
Moyes then signed Thilo Kehrer for extra defensive cover, but in fairness, the German has turned out to be one of our most important players.
At the time, it was claimed that the Hammers could pick the central defender up for a nominal fee, with his contact with Sao Paulo set to expire in January 2023 (IG).
And now it seems as though we could have signed him for absolutely nothing…
West Ham turn down chance to sign Brazilian centre-back Luizao on a free transfer
According to well-renowned Brazilian football journalist Jorge Nicola, via his YouTube, The Hammers were actually in advanced negotiations to sign the 20-year-old defender.
Unfortunately for Luizao though, he has been informed by his agents that West Ham no longer want him according to Nicola:
Luizao only has a contract until January 30th. He can sign a pre-contract agreement with a new club. Luizao was super confident that he wants to play in the Premier League. He has already had advanced conversations over a move to West Ham. Which is why he rejected several contract extension offers from Sao Paulo. The problem is that Luizao has already been notified, via his representatives, that West Ham are giving up (on signing him). They understand that Luizao might not be able to give them all that they imagined, even if he was really cheap. There would have been no need to pay any money to Sao Paulo.
We actually think that he would have been a smart addition for the Hammers, with Angelo Ogbonna and Craig Dawson now 34 and 32 respectively.
He might be totally unproven in the Premier League and very rough around the edges, but signing him on a free transfer would have negated the risks involved in the deal.
Luizao is an aggressive young defender whose playing style is quintessentially South American, what with his tenacity and aggression.
He’s a very good tackler and is commanding in the air. It does seem as though Luizao has all of the attributes needed to succeed in England with West Ham.
David Moyes and his staff obviously didn’t agree with that though, and we back the Scot’s judgment completely.
As West Ham turn down the chance to sign Brazilian centre-back Luizao on a free transfer, it seems as though Moyes is still very much in the market for a centre-back. And it will be interesting to see who he targets in the January transfer window.
Read also:
‘Special’ player was so close to leaving West Ham in the summer transfer window
‘Really good’: Fornals names the West Ham new signing who’s impressed him already
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