West Ham United make final decision on Aaron Cresswell move to Wolves, Michail Antonio update also emerges
West Ham will be keeping hold of both Aaron Cresswell and Michail Antonio for the moment in time as their anticipated moves are now off, according to the Daily Mail.
The newspaper reported on page 74 of its print edition on 28 July that the Hammers have called off Cresswell’s transfer to Wolves, while Antonio’s switch to Saudi side Al Ettifaq has fallen through.
The experienced duo, both of which are 33 years old, will now remain at the London Stadium and prepare to be part of David Moyes’s squad for the upcoming Premier League season unless another move presents itself in the next couple of weeks.
Thought-provoking
It’s likely West Ham have moved to block both of the deals due to the fact the club is either anticipating other players to leave or because they have been unable to sign the targets they wanted to bring in.
The Hammers had seemed quite keen to allow Cresswell to leave for a modest £2.5million, but they were looking to sign Chelsea defender Ian Maatsen to replace him and Mauricio Pochettino has confirmed he’s in his plans for the upcoming season.
Meanwhile, it looks as though Gianluca Scamacca could be on his way out of East London as he pushes for a move to Roma, so Moyes could be keen to keep hold of Antonio as that potential transfer develops.
There is no doubt that both players have been fantastic servants for the club over a number of years and they can certainly still do a job as squad players, while also offering their experience around the place outside of games.
But it isn’t much of a surprise that we were happy to initially allow them to leave as they aren’t getting any younger and we shouldn’t be looking to start them every week.
In other West Ham news, Dharmesh Sheth believes one club could compromise on their £80million asking fee for a Hammers target.