At the beginning of July, Germany’s SportBild presented West Ham and Southampton among the clubs keen to sign Nicolai Muller from Hamburg.
Wolfsburg and Schalke were also keen, but HSV didn’t want to sell, feeling they could get the attacker to renew his contract with the club. Despite that, it was claimed a deal could be done once it reached the Bundesliga side’s ‘pain threshold’ of €8-10m.
Unfortunately for everyone involved, Muller picked up an injury in August. Celebrating a goal by trying to imitate a helicopter, the 30 year old’s knee gave way and he’s been out of action since with a cruciate injury.
Hamburg’s board have since blocked renewal attempts, with the club in ongoing financial difficulties and again facing the real danger of relegation.
That means West Ham and Southampton are now free to start talks with Muller and get him to sing an agreement to join in the summer. However, both David Moyes and Mauricio Pellegrino would have to be convinced about the player’s fitness first.
Once he’s back available, it’s likely Hamburg will play him, they need all the help they can get. Then, they may also try a renewal attempt again, but Muller himself may prefer to look elsewhere given the club’s situation and how they backed away from a deal after his injury.
