Anderlecht midfielder Josh Cullen has revealed he ‘didn’t necessarily’ have to leave West Ham last summer but was lured by the interest from Vincent Kompany.
Cullen joined Anderlecht in a £450,000 deal last summer, bringing an end to a lifelong association with the Hammers.
Before the move to Belgium, he had spent his entire career at West Ham, rising from their youth side, through the U18’s and 21s before moving into the first team in 2015.
He spent the following years out on various loan spells in the English lower leagues before electing to make a permanent move in the summer in search of first-team football and development.
That is something he has enjoyed, with 18 appearances in the Jupiler League thus far, a tally which has apparently seen his value triple in the meantime.
That is something West Ham may come to regret, and Cullen has now admitted he didn’t have to leave the London Stadium.
“I was in quarantine when Anderlecht’s interest was really specific,” he told Anderlecht-Online.
“I didn’t necessarily have to leave West Ham; the coach gave me the free choice.
“But when you hear that Vincent Kompany would like you there, it a compliment, and then you don’t doubt.
“By the way, I don’t know whether the Belgian league gets enough respect. You just have to see who has played everything here in the past and who is now active in the Premier League.”
