West Ham are resisting Sampdoria moves for Pedro Obiang despite stories emerging that a deal is close to being done.
The midfielder joined the Irons from the Italian outfit in 2015 and the Italians have been courting him now for over a year hoping to get him back on the cheap.
But the Hammers are unwilling to see the player ‘nicked’ at a such a cut-price and are holding out for €17 million for as reported previously they are in no desperate hurry to sell anyway.
Sky Sports have claimed the deal is close to being done but that is not our understanding despite the fact the two clubs are in touch with each other.
Obiang is happy at what he’s seeing at West Ham under new boss Manuel Pellegrini and would be excited to remain a part of things.
There may be a small part of him which is attracted to a return to the family connections in Italy but we have learned that essentially he wants to remain part of the Hammers squad as it enters one of its most exciting periods for years.
The club meanwhile have no intention of selling a anywhere near £10 million and Samp will have to up their bid considerably for a deal to be done.
Quite right too Hugh, I remember Sully saying that we have to improve in our ability to negotiate outbound sales. Championship midfielders are being sold for double what Sampdoria are offering, either pay the going rate, or jog on!
IMO I think we should let him go – I firmly believe we need to improve the quality of our CM and if to do that we need to let Obiang go then so be it. I believe it is a risk but it is one worth taking.
Who will we get better than Pedro?
I didn’t know he had any family connections in Italy but if we can replace him with better then ok but if not he is the best defensive midfielder we have at present.