Angelo Ogbonna has kicked suggestions that the central defender is on his way to AS Roma into touch.

The club have been rumoured as being interested in Oggy but his agent, Giovanni Branchini, has denied the possibility.

“To date, there has been no contact, Ogbonna still has a contract with West Ham and it seems [him leaving is] impossible to me. Exit rumours are invention of the press,” the player’s representative told Romanews.eu.

They further went on to suggest West Ham would demand a €5m fee, while a loan move with an option to buy is also available.

How refreshing to have such an immediate and straightforward response from the agent of a Premier League player. Angelo Ogbonna may not have had the best of times on the pitch for the Irons but off it, nobody would argue that his behaviour has been anything less than impeccable. Now it seems his agent Giovanni Branchin knows exactly how to behave in similar circumstances. I suppose if we wanted to be incredibly cynical we could wonder if he hadn’t got an offer in the bag and was fencing off other interested clubs. But better two or three offers than one anyway so there’s not much mileage in that. It’s good – after all the Arnie stuff – to see such behaviour from a player and his adviser. If we are being entirely honest it would be a surprise if Oggy were to stay but for now this makes very pleasant reading!