Towards the end of last season, several reports covered West Ham United interest in Zeno Debast.
Back in April, A Bola reported West Ham had intensified contacts to sign the centre-back. The following month, Mais Futebol stated the Hammers wanted to challenge Sporting for his signature.
West Ham showed willingness to compete with the Lions and Napoli. The player ended up leaving Anderlecht for Sporting in July and has made eight appearances this season.
Rúben Amorim’s side will take on PSV Eindhoven in the Champions League on Tuesday. Ahead of this tie, Gazet van Antwerpen had a detailed chat with the defender on various topics, including West Ham.
The Belgium international came through the ranks of Anderlecht’s youth system. He spent three years with the Jupiler Pro League side’s first team before joining Sporting.
On his decision to pick the Portuguese club, he said: “I’ve always been very transparent with Anderlecht about my future. It was time to convert fifteen years of training into a nice transfer.
“I absolutely did not want to leave on deadline day, so the process started early, without ever losing my focus on Anderlecht. I wanted an ambitious club where everything was already arranged the moment I landed: a house, a car… My focus had to be purely on football.”
The newspaper then specifically asked him about the West Ham links. When responding to that, the player insisted there was no approach from the Premier League.
“I visited several clubs, but West Ham were not among them,” Debast explained.
“I immediately had the right feeling about Sporting. I had received the number of the Sporting’s Danish player Morten Hjulmand through Kasper Schmeichel and Brian Riemer. I collected information through him and Jan Vertonghen, who played at Benfica. He also told me good things about Portugal.
“When I spoke to coach Amorim afterwards, I was convinced. A family club where everything was right: the sporting project, injury prevention, nutritional guidance… Everything.”
In short, West Ham didn’t make any serious attempt to sign the Belgian in the summer window.
