West Ham have been unable to agree a fee with Watford following the departure of young defender Jeremy Ngakia.
So now the issue will go to arbitration where a compensation figure will be agreed following the right back walking out on the club at the end of his contract.
The club will hope to be recompensed for the time and development they invested in the youngster but in 99 cases out of 100 the club a player leaves usually comes out on the wrong end of the arbitration process.
Ngakia proved himself a very decent player when called into the squad last season but eventually refused to see out his contract at the end of the protracted covid interrupted season.
The Hammers offered him a series of deals but his agents never negotiated and it eventually emerged that he had decided to join the Hornets who were relegated to the Championship last season.
Did the player himself ever give a reason why he chose to move on?
No disrespect to Watford, it’s not like Chelsea or Liverpool were knocking down the door to sign him. I would have thought he’d have done better to stay and push for inclusion to our first team (at least for another couple of seasons).
I think that he said that he joined Watford to get more playing time – he did start in a number of their early fixtures – but is now on the bench
From what I’ve read, he felt he would get to play more at a smaller club like Watford. He was not one of our leading prospects until injuries thrust him into the limelight.
The cost for a replacement should also be considered, tho probably won’t be.