West Ham set to miss out on another new transfer as Roger Ibanez closes in on Saudi move
West Ham transfer target and Roma centre-back Roger Ibanez is set to undergo a medical today ahead of a move to Saudi Arabian side Al Ahli, according to a report from Fabrizio Romano.
Romano shared via his Twitter account that a deal is in place for Ibanez to complete the move for a fee of £24.5million guaranteed, with add-ons to take the deal over £25.8million, as the defender has agreed to a four-year deal.
West Ham were credited with an interest in the centre-back, with his name coming up in discussions with Roma [Il Tempo, 29 July] over Hammers striker Gianluca Scamacca, who is now set to move to Atalanta.
West Ham will have to look at other options in the coming weeks. The deal for Ibanez never seemed close despite his name being mentioned between the two sides, although interest in Manchester United’s Harry Maguire, Chelsea’s Trevoh Chalobah, and Bayer Leverkusen’s German international Jonathan Tah remains.
The Hammers are looking to strengthen their squad this summer following the exit of Declan Rice to Arsenal which saw the club make £105million profit, which will now be invested in the rest of the squad rather than looking for one direct replacement.
It has been a slow summer at West Ham, as they remain the only Premier League club not to complete a transfer so far this summer, although multiple bids have been lodged for several players including Southampton’s James Ward-Prowse and Chelsea’s Conor Gallagher.
The Hammers do finally look like landing a new man though, with Fabrizio Romano sharing [7 August] they have made a verbal agreement with Ajax over the signing of Edson Alvarez, who will fly to London in the coming hours.
In other West Ham news, another transfer target has made his decision ahead of his ‘dream’ move.