West Ham United tried to hijack move for Tyrell Malacia – Fabrizio Romano
West Ham tried to hijack a deal for Feyenoord left-back Tyrell Malacia over the weekend but failed, according to Fabrizio Romano.
The 22-year-old full-back had been close to joining Lyon on a permanent deal, before the Hammers spoke with his agents and Feyenoord to try and get a deal done ahead of them. The player wasn’t interested though and now Manchester United have jumped into the race and look to have won it.
In a Youtube video posted on Tuesday [June 28], Romano explains the entire story about the deal and how Malacia now looks likely to end up at Old Trafford rather than the London Stadium or in France.
“Let me explain to you this crazy situation,” he said. “On the weekend it was Friday, Lyon found a total verbal agreement for Malacia. The deal was almost completed for €12m + €3m add-ons, so a package of €15m (£12.9m) with potential add-ons included.
“It was a verbal agreement, not signed yet on player’s side or on club’s side. They were preparing the contracts and documents, so everything was done between Lyon and Feyenoord but not signed yet because some English club was trying to enter into the story.
“One of those English clubs were West Ham. West Ham during the weekend had a conversation with Tyrell Malacia’s agents and with Feyenoord. They were exploring this possibility. But on player’s side, he was still waiting to complete the deal with Lyon. This is why Lyon were pretty relaxed to complete the negotiation.
“But what happened today, on Tuesday [June 28], Manchester United jumped into this story. Manchester United are trying to hijack to the deal with Malacia.”
It’s since been reported by The Athletic that Man United have agreed a €17m (£14.6m) deal with Feyenoord.
Too slow
If Malacia was a target, then the club should have been moving for him early on especially considering the reportedly low price.
At just £12.9m initially, the club could have wrapped that deal up nice and quickly even before Lyon made their move and they wouldn’t have had to deal with any of this drama.
Instead they waited for someone else to do the leg work, tried to move in late and ended up missing out on a talented young player who will now end up playing against them in the Premier League.
Left-back is an area identified as needing strengthening with Aaron Cresswell 33-years-old now and Ben Johnson providing cover in both full-back positions.
Malacia’s pace, passing and attacking instincts would have been a great addition to the squad and he showed in the Europa Conference League final that he can play to a very high level, but he won’t be doing that in claret and blue any time soon.