West Ham United manager Nuno Espirito Santo has suffered a fresh blow to his survival plans with his bid to sign Adama Traore hitting the buffers.
West Ham United are refusing to pay the £7million fee being sought by Fulham as the two clubs haggle it out. Under pressure Hammers Nuno has made winger Traore one of his main targets this January to try to dig his team out of trouble.
The pair worked together previously at Wolverhampton Wanderers and Nuno is keen on a reunion.West Ham were humiliated by a 3-0 defeat at Nuno’s old club on Saturday, which has turned the screw on the Portuguese coach to turn things around.
David Sullivan Halts West Ham Deal
West Ham chairman David Sullivan is reluctant to fork out the full asking price for Spanish wideman Traore, whose contract expires this summer. There is also the matter of the Africa Cup if Nations. Fulham have three players away with Nigeria who play tomorrow night against Mozambique.
Fulham boss Marco Silva does not want to let Traore go while forwards Samuel Chukwueze and Alex Iwobi are away on international duty. Defender Calvin Bassey is also with them. The longer the January transfer window drags on, the more West Ham will be under pressure to meet Fulham’s asking price.
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West Ham vs Nottingham Forest a Must Win for Nuno
Nuno must try to raise his floundering squad to face fellow strugglers Nottingham Forest on Tuesday. West Ham are currently third from bottom in the Premier League and four points behind their next opponents making Tuesday’s game a must-win.
Chairman Sullivan has already sanctioned a £20 million move for Pablo Felipe. Lazio’s Taty Castellanos is also poised to complete a transfer to East London.
Nuno replaced sacked boss Graham Potter in September but has a worse record than his predecessor from his 14 games in charge. They have fewer points per game and have let in more goals per game while not keeping a clean sheet since Nuno took over.
