West Ham fear that negotiations with Charlton over the permanent transfer of Josh Cullen may stall over the price required.
The 22 year old has been allowed to move to the League One Addicks on loan and as reported here is now wanted by manager Lee Bowyer.
But just as was the case when Reece Burke was finally allowed to join Hull for a small fee after Derby manager Frank Lampard had offered £500k, the Hammers believe the fee offered will be too low.
The Hammers value Cullen at around £2 million and with youth on his side could well have a decent sell on value but it’s unlikely that Charlton will be able to offer anymore for the midfielder than Hull paid for Burke.
However, the Irons are ready to discuss a move after an early inquiry from Charlton following an impressive start at the New Valley by the player.
Why sell Josh Cullen?
He’s still a promising, developing player who may become a stalwart in the midfield over the next few years.
Surely West Ham aren’t that hard up for a couple of £mil…???
The lad is 22 and needs to be playing on a regular basis. He won’t improve any more if he doesn’t get game time at the highest level he can get. I can’t see him getting that game time at West Ham any time soon. So we either let his career stagnate in the U23’s for another year or so, or we let him take his chance elsewhere. This is one of the problems that used to be addressed by the old reserve league. Lads could get valuable game time and experience playing with and against top players, thus giving them the opportunity to gain the improvement they needed to graduate to the first team.