Since the transfer window closed, we’ve tried to cover most of the fallout, with all the complaints following the numerous failed deals, but nothing compares to what happened at Lille.
The most exciting one was Ibrahim Amadou’s attempt to sign with either Crystal Palace or West Ham, with the defensive midfielder hopping on a Eurostar to London in case something happened.
There’s been many versions of what actually happened, and now the player’s agent, Sylvain Chavanon, has weighed in and try to clarify exactly what happened last Wednesday as his client waited for a phone call from either David Moyes or Roy Hodgson.
Taking to Twitter with a statement, via his agency’s account @CarriereFoot, he explained that Amadou did indeed get on a train to London, but that was just to anticipate Lille managing to bring back Xeka from his loan at Dijon.
Since that never materialised, Amadou returned back to Lille the next day, turned up for training on the Friday and had a good game against Paris Saint-Germain on the Saturday despite the visitors winning 3-0.
As he puts it: “The transfer didn’t happen, Ibrahim came back and the chapter is closed”.
The statement could have ended there, but it didn’t.
Chavanon then had a go at the media on how they portrayed the whole ordeal, and he didn’t mince his words.
He said: “The British media, despite having no contact with Ibrahim, portrayed a player ‘devastated’ by this aborted transfer. Various rumours were then picked up in France (without bothering to verify them), causing anger among Lille fans towards Ibrahim.
“The player hasn’t shown an interest in addressing what happened and preferred to express himself on the pitch, where it matters. Those who ever doubted his commitment and attachment to Lille can always watch his game against Paris Saint-Germain again.
“Ibrahim’s priority remains to help Lille stay up as quickly as possible. The rest is anecdotal.”
Now, West Ham and Crystal Palace have to wait until the summer to bring in a defensive midfielder.
Amadou will definitely leave then, and if both Roy Hodgson and David Moyes are still at Selhurst Park and the London Stadium respectively, then they could return.
