Little by little, more background information appears regarding West Ham’s interest in Dutch under 21 midfielder Ezechiel Banzuzi. This was the player yesterday that Sky suggested was on the point of arriving at London Stadium for a medical with a ‘deal agreed’. Not.
Our own sources close to the club, whilst not wishing to be named, have filled in a few of the gaps. It is apparent that negotiations did take place between West Ham and Banzuzi’s club Belgian Pro League OH Leuven, but those negotiations were conducted well over a week ago: The bid that was placed by the Hammers was along the lines of a ‘take it or leave it’ offer which the Belgians chose not to run with.
Apparently Vice chair Karren Brady was the West Ham representative leading negotiations -which is a fascinating change of emphasis at the club, seemingly confirming the decline in influence of Tim Steidten, the Hammers’ technical director who ran last summer’s ten-player transfer splurge.
With the appointment just this week of Graham Potter’s own pick Kyle Macauley to advise on new transfers, Steidten’s future at West Ham has to be in doubt.
We are reliably informed West Ham still do hold an interest in signing Banzuzi – tantalisingly – with two weeks left in the transfer window, there’s still all to play for. Reported today in standard.co.uk, “OHLeuven value the 19-year-old at around £12.7million” so it would appear that a deal could still be negotiated as the goal posts are not so far away as to be financially unattainable for West Ham.
It depends on how much Graham Potter wants to bring the youngster to bolster the ranks this January as to whether West Ham are prepared to try again.
