West Ham have ended their interest in Bayern Munich right-back Noussair Mazraoui, according to Sky Germany reporter Florian Plettenberg.
The journalist was the one who revealed that the Hammers had agreed to pay €19.5m (£16m) for the Moroccan international but the deal has now collapsed due to a dispute over agent fees:
🚨⚒️ EXCL | Noussair #Mazraoui deal with West Ham is OFF!
No agreement on agent‘s side has been reached. Despite the agreement between the clubs (15,5 + 4) and on player‘s side West Ham now have left the negotiations ✔️
⚠️ Manchester United now pushing to sign Mazraoui.… pic.twitter.com/vGGFBclRJr
— Florian Plettenberg (@Plettigoal) July 26, 2024
It is now looking like Mazraoui will join Manchester United, with talks between the Red Devils and Bayern having already reached an advanced stage.
Where does this leave West Ham?
The failure to land Mazraoui means that manager Julen Lopetegui still doesn’t have any competition for Vladimir Coufal on the right-hand side of defence.
Talks were initially opened with Southampton to sign Kyle Walker-Peters, but the Saints’ asking price for the 27-year-old was deemed too high.
The Irons then approached Man United for Aaron Wan-Bissaka, only to be told that the player wanted a move to Inter Milan instead.
Talks to sign Duran have also not progressed
There was fresh hope yesterday that West Ham had found a way forward in negotiations to buy Jhon Duran from Aston Villa. However, two fresh bids (the highest being £32m plus Lewis Orford) were rejected.
It means that the club may have to start their search for a new striker (and a right-back) again. All of this doesn’t reflect well on technical director Tim Steidten whose scattergun approach to the transfer market this summer has not impressed a large section of the West Ham fanbase.
