Report: On/off Irons bid for ‘Algerian Messi’ back ON
All media sources and the author of the new report Jacob Steinberg revealed earlier today the deal was in danger of collapsing because of a sticking point between the winger and his current club Brentford.
However, the latest report claims the Hammers have agreed to pay an initial £25m plus £5m in add-ons to sign Benrahma.
Steiberg claims that whilst the deal has stalled in the last 24 hours, the east Londoners remain confident the player dubbed “the Algerian Messi” will join them.
As we revealed last night when first revealing the deal could be in trouble, Bournemouth’s Joshua King is the Hammers safety net should they miss out on the Brentford star.
The Hammers ramped up their interest in Benrahma, who was one of the standout players in the Championship last season, and had a £13m bid for King rejected on Sunday.
Bournemouth are holding out for £17.5m for the forward, who is out of contract next summer. King wants to return to the Premier League following Bournemouth’s relegation and West Ham have not ruled out making an improved offer for the Norway international.
ClaretandHugh says: Nothing is straightforward at West Ham. Whilst very few transfers are simple none ever seem to be as complicated as they turn out to be at West Ham. This is probably because the Irons is as leaky an outfit as you have in football despite internal promises that this will stop and we understand there was even a board meeting decision to ensure that happed which was carried unanimously. It of course made no difference with talkSport quoting David Sullivan on and off the record. An odd state of affairs. Essentially talks are continuing but everything remains uncertain on the negotiations because it’s also now well known that we are retaining our interest in Josh King. No doubt one or the other will arrive but you can bet your life away it will go right down to the wire and there will be denial and counter denial along the way.