A top West Ham source has confirmed Carlos Soler’s transfer status to Claret & Hugh within the past hour.
As reported in an article published this morning, defender Jean-Clair Todibo is currently on loan to the Hammers with an obligation to buy. This means the deal will be ratified at the end of the season, and his registration will switch to West Ham.
The deal was structured this way to spread the costs over a longer period and maximise last summer’s transfer budget by deferring Todibo’s first instalment by 12 months.
In essence, the agreement was always intended to be permanent, with the loan arrangement serving as a convenient workaround.
However, the situation for Carlos Soler is quite different. Although there is a £27 million clause that allows West Ham to make the loan permanent, it is solely an option that the Hammers’ board can choose to trigger.
In conversation today, a top official at London Stadium confirmed, “Soler is just a loan, and we have ZERO obligation to buy him.”
Any purchase over £1 million requires boardroom approval, and with Soler’s high wages and substantial fee from Paris Saint-Germain, it seems unlikely the board will proceed with a permanent deal.
