West Ham United get clear stance from Chelsea’s Todd Boehly over Emerson – Fabrizio Romano
Chelsea owner Todd Boehly has made it very clear to West Ham that he will only sell Emerson and will not loan him out, Fabrizio Romano reports.
The Hammers have moved onto the Italian international left-back with David Moyes wanting competition for Aaron Cresswell all summer, and the Blues man stuck behind Ben Chilwell and Marc Cucurella at Stamford Bridge.
Their new American chairman has spent heavily and now wants to get some money back from his unwanted players, and as such a loan approach from Ligue 1’s Nice was rejected in July, and he has expressed the same sentiment to the Irons.
Romano wrote on his personal Twitter account on Monday night (15 August): “Emerson Palmieri deal. West Ham have approached Chelsea to sign Italian left back, Todd Boehly made clear he only wants to sell Emerson on permanent deal, no loan.
“OGC Nice offered loan move in July and it was rejected, no more talks. It’s currently quiet.”
No problem
This shouldn’t represent a stumbling block to getting a deal done because Moyes has been looking for another option in this area for some time.
Arthur Masuaku has now left on loan, but this approach isn’t an emergency fill-in like the centre-back chase may have started out as.
If the price is right for Emerson, who is a decent option but has no chance of getting into the Chelsea side unless there are two major injuries to over £100million-worth of players ahead of him, then West Ham should be happy to do a permanent deal.
Cresswell’s form slipped in the latter weeks of last season, with some high profile errors likely increasing the manager’s desire for a player to provide stronger competition.
Emerson is good enough to do that, with 27 international caps for Italy to his name, 71 Chelsea appearances, and coming off a full season as a start for Lyon in France, where he came up against the Hammers in the Europa League.
At 28 he is four years younger than Cresswell, so if things were to go well he could take over the role for the foreseeable future.
He isn’t worth a major fee, but there must have been a certain amount factored into the budget for a left-back at the start of the window so there seems to be no reason this can’t get done.