Joe Ellis

Wed 12 October 2022 7:40, UK

West Ham United rejected the chance to sign Brazilian defender Luizao over the summer, according to respected journalist Jorge Nicola.

The 20-year-old has rejected a number of contract offers from Sao Paulo having known about the Irons’ long-standing interest with his current deal coming to an end on 31 January.

Despite what would be a cheap deal to complete, however, West Ham opted not to sign Luizao in the summer after careful evaluation.

“Luizao only has a contract until January 30^th. He can sign a pre-contract agreement with a new club,” Nicola said. “Luizao was super confident that he wants to play in the Premier League.

“He has already had advanced conversations over a move to West Ham. Which is why he rejected several contract extension offers from Sao Paulo. The problem is that Luizao has already been notified, via his representatives, that West Ham are giving up (on signing him).

“They understand that Luizao might not be able to give them all that they imagined, even if he was really cheap. There would have been no need to pay any money to Sao Paulo.”

Risky

Any club would be mad not to try and get the best deal possible in transfer terms and if he is available for nothing once his contract expires then it is worth waiting it out but that comes with risks.

There is always the possibility that other Premier League sides, or ones in Europe, might realise the opportunity at hand and make their own approaches to sign Luizao while he is as cheap as he is in footballing terms.

The Hammers could have buried this debate and doubt by paying what would have been an incredibly small fee to Sao Paulo and loaning him back for the rest of the Brazilian season.

That would have made a whole lot of sense but they have instead chosen to walk the plank of the free agent market and they will have to move fast to sign him once the contract ends.

But with contact already made, they should have the head start they need to win this race, if they still want to do so.