On Tuesday, we covered a story about Brighton and Norwich making a first move to try and sign Alexis Claude-Maurice from Lorient after Willie McKay reportedly got involved.
However, the 21-year-old wasn’t attracted to either project, while it was further pushed West Ham had made a €15m offer for his services.
This came from Soccer Link, and local newspaper Le Télégramme shed some more light on the situation on Wednesday afternoon.
The French outlet confirm the Hammers did indeed put €15m on the table for Claude-Maurice, which ‘satisfied’ the Ligue 2 club.
Unfortunately for West Ham, while the France U20 international does ‘dream’ of playing in the Premier League, he is currently prioritising playing football over anything else, meaning he wants a step in between Lorient and England’s top-tier.
That’s why Borussia Mönchengladbach would have been ideal, but the Bundesliga club are yet to return after seeing their initial €8m approach turned away.
Basically, Claude-Maurice ‘doesn’t feel ready for a league where French players sometimes get lost’.
A mature way of looking at things in a day and age where money often trumps reason in the world of football.
Now, he’s just got to hope someone that meets his ‘stepping stone’ criteria comes forward with the right offer.
