Sevilla manager Julen Lopetegui has suggested that rumours linking Youssef En-Nesyri with West Ham United are ‘not true or real’.
En-Nesyri has been heavily linked with a move to the London Stadium this week, with David Moyes keen to find a replacement for Sebastien Haller.
West Ham have reportedly already seen a €30m bid rejected, but are believed to have returned with a €40m offer to match Sevilla’s demands and try to force a transfer over the line.
Whether the La Liga side accept that bid remains to be seen, with it felt the club are divided over whether to sell En-Nesyri this month or hold firm and try to get a bigger price in future.
Even if they do decide to sell, the Hammers also face a fight to convince the player, who has reportedly told Sevilla he has no intention of moving this month.
The transfer seems to be very much in the air, although according to Lopetegui, it isn’t a real thing anyway.
“The advice that I give my players is football for a game, training,” Diario de Sevilla report him saying when asked about the West Ham rumours.
“I don’t go into other things that are not true or real. When a player asks me for advice, I will give it, but I do not speak of rumours.”
That is a fairly prickly response from the Sevilla boss, who is clearly annoyed about the transfer drama currently surrounding his club.
Quite why he’d suggest the West Ham links to En-Nesyri are false is anyone’s guess, with the widespread coverage of it in both England and Spain clearly hinting that something is going on.
Perhaps his annoyance is more at the latest reports of an improved bid or Sevilla being tempted to sell, both of which could deprive him of a player he really could do without losing.
