Could West Ham sign former target Carvalho on the cheap?

West Ham were pushed back publicly in last season’s pursuit of William Carvalho. However there’s a chance they could get him for free this year.

It’s always annoying to lose out on a transfer target. To see the players name connected with your club for months only for it to be ripped away is always hard. When it becomes a complete public mess like West Ham’s chase of Carvalho was…that’s even worse.

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However it may be that the Hammers get their man this summer. And it may be for a lot cheaper than the original price. It appears that Carvalho has cancelled his contract with Sporting with immediate effect, due to issues regarding player safety towards the end of the season. So any move could be without fee paid to Sporting.

Likelihood and Other Options

There are a few things that will need to be sorted before any move is even confirmed to start a potential move. Firstly, does Pellegrini want him? He was a target for previous managers and whilst his quality is obvious the manager may decide he wants to prioritise other signings if he feels that is what is best for the team.

Also, it’s unknown whether the player himself wants to join. Without the player wanting to join its irrelevant how much we are willing to pay for him or if the manager wants him to join, there’s no way a player who doesn’t want to will move to the club.

A third issue, which is obvious given the calibre of player he is, is we will have competition for his signature. Everton are said to be interested and Champions League clubs may also want a chance to sign a player on this good a deal.

Next: Man Utd won't sign Arnautovic this summer

There’s a lot of ifs and buts around this, but he’s a good player. A good player available for good value should be of interest around Europe, so I hope West Ham, if they want him, make a quick and decisive offer. But if we don’t get him, we’d better have some other options up our sleeve.

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