Caglar Soyuncu responds to January transfer window offers from West Ham United and Fulham
Caglar Soyuncu has rejected an offer from West Ham along with a series of other suitors as he looks set for a move to Fenerbahce, according to Yagiz Sabuncuoglu.
The Sports Digitale journalist reported via Twitter on 21 January that the Atletico Madrid centre-back had also turned down London rivals Fulham and European heavyweights AC Milan, Porto and Roma.
L’Equipe journalist Loic Tanzi had reported on 16 January that the Irons were interested in a deal to bring the former Leicester City defender back to the Premier League for the rest of the season but it has now emerged that he has turned the club down.
Sabuncuoglu reported on 19 January that Atletico and Fenerbahce were close to an agreement.
Thilo Kehrer was allowed to leave the London Stadium earlier in the January transfer window to join Monaco on a loan-to-buy deal that will likely not see him return.
Knock back
The continual attempts by David Moyes to overhaul his central defensive options don’t look like they will be including the 55-cap Turkish international.
His experience at the King Power Stadium in the Premier League would have made him a relatively certain bet to slot in at West Ham quickly if a deal had been possible, with the 27-year-old only having left England in the summer when the Foxes were relegated to the Championship.
It appears he is intent on heading back to his home country though so if Moyes is going to get a defender in on loan then he will once more have to move on to another option, having also been linked to Tottenham’s Eric Dier before the Englishman left for Bayern Munich.
It looks unlikely that Nayef Aguerd will move on while he is away at the Africa Cup of Nations so the cash return that could have funded a top-level replacement will have to wait until the summer at least.
And if there is money to spend then it surely needs to be directed towards attacking areas as a priority this month with so many of the key forwards out injured and Mohammed Kudus also in Côte d’Ivoire on international duty like Aguerd.
It is proving another slow window at the London Stadium so far, amid suggestions that there are again differences of opinion behind the scenes on targets between Moyes and technical director Tim Steidten.
The pair were able to put them to one side in the summer and managed to bring in a solid set of signings late in the window, so the hope will be something similar is possible before the end of the month.
In other West Ham news, the door has opened for the Irons to complete a reduced-price move now on a player the manager has been after for multiple windows.
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