West Ham United are still pursuing Ibrahima Osman from Danish club FC Nordsjaelland, but it is “complicated”, Fabrizio Romano revealed exclusively to GIVEMESPORT ahead of the transfer deadline.
Osman seemed to be already tied to the London Stadium, but the deal stalled and just one day before the end of the transfer deadline, the striker’s transfer to West Ham was up in the air. Romano believes West Ham are still trying to find a solution, but wonders whether the Hammers will have enough time to secure Osman’s signature before Thursday’s deadline at 11pm.
Osman’s situation at West Ham is up in the air:
West Ham, which had already secured the arrival of centre-forward Kalvin Phillips, was on the verge of another January transfer as Osman was close to signing with Nordsjaelland. However, the deal fell through as the 19-year-old’s future is still undecided.
West Ham were ahead of two other Premier League clubs, Brighton & Hove Albion and Brentford, and it seemed that the East Londoners would win Osman’s favour. Sky Sports reporter Dharmesh Sheth revealed to GIVEMESPORT that talks between the respective parties were progressing nicely, but that problems with the player’s valuation had apparently stalled.
The Daily Mail reported at the beginning of January that the Hammers had presented a £15 million offer to Nordsjaelland, but the Danish club felt it was not high enough. Instead, they reportedly wanted more than that sum, although Osman himself wants to move to the English Premier League.
Fabrizio Romano: Osman’s deal is not completely off the table:
Responding to suggestions that the Osman deal at West Ham was dead, transfer guru Romano admitted that it would be difficult for the capital to get him out at this late stage, but refused to give up completely. Romano flirted with the idea that Osman could sign for a club later this month or the teenager could stay in Denmark until the end of the season, from where he would then move on to pastures new.
The Italian journalist revealed to GIVEMESPORT that outside interest from clubs such as Brighton and Brentford, as well as other deals that Premier League clubs are trying to conclude in January, are also important:
“Tottenham are no longer working on the Antonio Nus deal at the moment, there is still a story with Brentford, and others are not working specifically on Osman or any other deal at the moment either. I don’t rule out the possibility that Osman could probably stay in Nordsjaelland until the end of the season and then move to an English club in the summer transfer window. That could be a possibility, Brighton are also interested in him, after the West Ham story, which remains ongoing but is complicated, really complicated.”
West Ham are unlucky in the transfer window as the latest information on Jota has emerged:
The other wide striker West Ham are reportedly chasing in the January transfer deadline is former Celtic man Jota. The Portuguese starlet moved to Saudi Arabian club Al-Ittihad in the summer transfer window for £25 million and signed a three-year contract in the Middle East.
However, after a dispute with the club hierarchy, Jota was released from Al-Ittihad’s registered squad for the Saudi Professional League season last autumn and has not featured since. Having played his last game in September, there were rumours that Jota would leave Saudi Arabia in January, with West Ham among the interested parties.
Romano revealed to GIVEMESPORT earlier this week that West Ham is one of the European clubs “working” on a deal for Jota, which now seems unlikely to happen. Reports then claimed that Jota would not sign with West Ham in the January window, thus the Hammers lost a key target again.
This could cause problems for David Moyes in the long run, as his team has sometimes underperformed. Only one team in the top half of the Premier League has scored fewer goals than the winners of the 2022/23 Europa League Conference in this period, suggesting some deficiencies in the final third.
With West Ham’s Europa League campaign also set to resume in the spring, Moyes and co. will be hoping that the strikers they already have in their ranks will be enough to compete in both the Premier League and Europe.