‘One step forward, two steps back’.
Welcome to Pedro Obiang’s attempted return to Sampdoria after three years at West Ham.
This particular transfer doesn’t appear to be anywhere near reaching a happy ending for the Serie A side and the Spanish midfielder, as ll Secolo XIX report on Friday, Obiang is ‘moving further away’ from Italy.
The reasons remain the same: West Ham want €12m or so and Sampdoria aren’t prepared to go over €10m.
Why? Because they feel that buying a player back for nearly double what they sold him for (€6.5m) three years ago would be a ‘joke’.
The talks are close to being ‘shipwrecked’ as West Ham don’t appear ready to lower their demands anytime soon, despite Obiang’s attempts to force a transfer.
His will doesn’t appear to matter anymore, and the Hammers, who seemed open to a sale a few weeks ago, aren’t all that thrilled at the idea of weakening their midfield any further.
Contacts are said to be continuing, as Sampdoria aren’t ready to give up yet, but, to us, it seems they’ll need a miracle at this stage.
