“Despite very high offers” – West Ham target confirms he had chance to leave, ‘always behaved like a professional’

For a very long time, it looked like Nikola Milenkovic would sign for West Ham.

The player seemed set to move to London Stadium, with everything sorted, but the last few articles suggested that agent commissions were holding the deal up, and the Hammers’ deal ultimately crumbled at the last

The Serbian defender has since extended his Fiorentina contract by another year, as his current deal was set to expire in 2022 and would have made him available to leave on a free in January.

The player has since spoken to Fiorentina’s website, where he explained what happened behind the scenes and even confirmed he had the opportunity to leave the Serie A side.

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Relayed by Calciomercato, he said: “I am very happy and proud for the renewal of my contract with Fiorentina. I have never asked to leave in recent years despite very high offers from European clubs. I have always behaved like a professional towards this shirt, of this city and the fans. I have always avoided controversy, I preferred to talk about the performance on the pitch even when things were not going well. 

“During this transfer market I did not ask to leave by force. The manager even said that when a player wants to go away, he does not train like I trained. The only thing that interested me was the perspective of the club and the team”.

So, it’s clear the West Ham target had a chance to leave the club this summer, but it simply wasn’t to be, meaning David Moyes and co. will have to look elsewhere to bolster their defence this summer.