West Ham United development sparks surprise celebrations as transfer unexpectedly collapses
Patricio Bruno’s move to West Ham collapsing was a “pleasant surprise” for Flamengo, according to the club’s vice-president.
Marcos Braz told Ge Globo (3 June) that the Brazilian side were “very happy” with the defender staying after he failed to agree personal terms for a move to the London Stadium.
The development caught Braz and Flamengo unawares but they are now celebrating that the centre-back won’t be joining the Irons.
He said, translated into English: “For us it was a pleasant surprise. The money was good, but I prefer Fabrício here. Player who already has a national team call-up, who we scouted at Bragantino and did well. He is super adapted, a player that everyone likes, extremely important for the squad.
“For us, it changes absolutely nothing. Of course the money would be good, we would have to go to the market to buy another player, but there’s no problem. Here we are very happy, but very happy with Fabrício Bruno staying.”
West Ham struggle as Luis Guilherme deal falls after Fabricio Bruno
As much as it might be a surprise boost to Flamengo for Bruno to not be leaving for West Ham he may not be in place for long since the Saudi Pro League are believed to be after him [Guardian, 30 May].
But whether he is in the Middle East or South America at the end of the summer the fact that he won’t be at the London Stadium has to be a blow when Tim Steidten has been pressing to get early deals done for Julen Lopetegui’s arrival.
Similar developments were seemingly set to derail a deal to sign Palmeiras teenager Luis Guilherme but the latest update now suggests that has been pulled back from the brink and is close to completion again [Bruno Andrade, 3 June].
It is too early for the club or the fanbase to panic either way, but when David Moyes is no longer around to shoulder any of the blame for mishaps in the market it won’t reflect particularly well on Steidten, and perhaps more importantly David Sullivan, if West Ham lurch through another offseason losing out on deals they thought they had done.
So while Bruno appears to have been missed it would certainly help avoid a negative atmosphere setting in to get the Guilherme deal over the line.
Signing players later in the window doesn’t automatically have to be a bad thing, and the Irons rebounded from months of delays a year ago to eventually land Edson Alvarez, James Ward-Prowse, Muhammed Kudus and Konstantinos Mavropanos.
But those circumstances saw them ultimately ran out of time to sign a striker and if they have set out early this time around there is clearly an intent to learn from those mistakes.
In other West Ham news, another defender the Irons are trying to sign has been left update by his club playing hard ball.
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