Vincenzo Morabito, a well known intermediary in Italian football, claimed that Pedro Obiang’s January move to Fiorentina collapsed because West Ham United demanded €18m after Serie A outfit offered €10m for the midfielder.
Agent Giulio Meozzi, who is working as an intermediary in helping the Italian club sign the 26-year-old, has explained another reason why the deal fell through.
Though the initial agreement between the Premier League outfit and Stefano Pioli’s side was to allow the former Sampdoria man to return to Italy, a new development in Marko Arnautovic’s future forced Manuel Pellegrini to stop Obiang’s move to the Stadio Artemio Franchi.
“For 11 million West Ham had said they would transfer the player, on this there is no doubt,” Meozzi told Italian website Tutto Mercato Web.
“The president took him off the market after the sale of Arnautovic was approaching.
“In fact, the president had been convinced to give up on Obiang, but it was the coach, [Manuel] Pellegrini, who opposed the figure offered by Fiorentina.
“It’s no coincidence that in the end West Ham said that the player was not for sale and not that the figure was not an adequate offer.”
Arnautovic is a target in China, with Shanghai SIPG reportedly ready to offer him weekly wages in excess of €300k per week.
There’s now been a whole raft of reasons pushed in Italy about the failure of Obiang’s transfer.
