West Ham to miss out on Merih Demiral as defender waits for ‘top club’ move
West Ham United talks with Atalanta defender Merih Demiral were never advanced despite his desire to leave the Serie A side this summer, according to Fabrizio Romano.
The transfer specialist reported via his personal Twitter account (9 August) that the Irons target still wants to depart the Bergamo side before the transfer window closes, but would only accept a move to a top club.
David Moyes’ side were joined by fellow Premier League side Nottingham Forest in the hunt for his signature, but neither side ever reached advanced talks with the 25-year-old Turkish centre-back, despite reports from Goal (2 August) that the Hammers were offered his services in the deal for Gianluca Scamacca.
Explaining the defender’s current position, Romano tweeted: “Merih Demiral’s priority remains to leave Atalanta this month; he’d only accept a top club move.
“AS Roma have added his name in the list alongside Omar Solet, Inter remain interested since June. Talks with Nottingham Forest and West Ham never advanced.”
Other targets
Demiral was an attractive option for West Ham this summer as a young international centre-back with top-flight and European experience can never be sniffed at, but the Hammers have plenty of other options to pursue in defence between now and the end of the window.
Harry Maguire remains high on their shopping list and a deal with Manchester United to secure his services seems to be slowly edging closer, while earlier in the window there were links with Bayer Leverkusen’s Jonathan Tah.
Ultimately the Irons don’t want someone in their ranks who considers themselves better than the club and while that may not be the case, Demiral’s reported desire to only accept a move to a top club comes across with a degree of arrogance and slightly demeaning to both West Ham and Forest.
Hopefully, the Hammers can begin to get a bit more active in the market between now and the end of August if they start the season looking defensively resolute with one or two more additions at the back, nobody will be losing any sleep over missing out on the Atalanta centre-back.
In other West Ham news, Sky Sports have said that a deal for Harry Maguire is getting ‘close’