West Ham ‘wanted’ Manor Solomon as agent speaks out after Tottenham transfer news
West Ham were one of several clubs interested in Manor Solomon, who spent last season on loan at Fulham before sealing a move to Spurs this summer, according to his agent Ben Ezra who revealed all in an interview with 5 Sport.
West Ham, Aston Villa, and RB Leipzig all wanted to bring Solomon in this transfer window, according to his agent, but the player prioritised staying in the Premier League with one of the big six clubs because of the challenge it would provide.
News of West Ham’s interest comes as a surprise as the player had not been rumoured to be on their list of targets, but a deal would have made sense with the club targeting a new winger, having been linked to Wilfried Zaha.
Speaking in an interview with Sport 5 in Israel, Ezra commented: “In a club like Chelsea, Arsenal or Tottenham there are several players in each position and this competition will make him better.
“In addition to Tottenham, Aston Villa, West Ham, and RB Leipzig wanted him as a replacement for Christopher Nkunku. In addition to Tottenham, Manor was also interested. But if you leave the Premier League, you can’t always return to it.”
The agent made his client’s desire to stay in the Premier League clear, with Tottenham and Ange Postecoglou the eventual winners of the race for his signature [The Athletic, 2 July].
Solomon would’ve been ideal for West Ham
The Hammers are looking to bring more wide attacking firepower to their team this summer, as has been made clear with links to ex-Crystal Palace winger Zaha [The Mirror, 1 July] and now this story.
Solomon would’ve been a brilliant option, having scored four goals for Fulham last season, with most of his 19 appearances coming from the bench as the winger averaged just 29.5 minutes per appearance in West London, with a goal every 140 minutes, or roughly every game and a half.
If that minutes-to-goal ratio can be kept up over the length of a full season, Solomon could put up some of the best-attacking numbers in the Premier League.
His agent also went on to comment that his limited game time at Fulham was due to manager Marco Silva’s awareness that Solomon would not be at the club next season: “Silva realized that Manor would probably not stay and he played less.”
This is certainly an area that needs to be strengthened.
In other West Ham news, the club will not meet the asking price for key striker target.