West Ham United successfully retained midfielder Andy Irving despite interest from other clubs during the transfer window. The young Scotsman’s impressive performances in pre-season has earned him a place in the squad however, he did have the option to leave for Celtic on transfer deadline day.
West Ham gaffer Julen Lopetegui was impressed by Irving’s performances during pre-season. The midfielder’s goal-scoring ability and creativity caught the manager’s attention, leading him to decide to keep Irving at the club at the last minute.
Irving initially believed that he would be moving during the final couple of days of the transfer window only for the club to put the brakes on the deal.
It does seem an odd decision though, as Irving is already behind Edson Alvarez, Guido Rodriguez, Tomas Soucek, Lucas Paqueta and Carlos Soler in the central midfield pecking order. Perhaps the Hammers attempted to retain Irving for as longs as possible whilst we waited to completed the Soler deal which happened so late it became impossible for Irving to move.
The Hammers would have to experience a major injury crisis for the Scot to even be considered for game-time.
A story from in Austria has claimed that Irving was blocked from leaving West Ham on transfer deadline day. The Irons supposedly received offers from Sturm Graz and Celtic for Irving during the transfer window, but from what we can gather, it was blocked.