Over the course of the January transfer window, Brighton & Hove Albion and West Ham United were involved in a battle to sign Ibrahim Osman from FC Nordsjælland.
The Hammers looked to have won the race, but the move was suddenly called off, with some claiming the Danish side were asking for too much, while other reported that an agent called Mitch Bakkovens was asking for a very high commission.
The issue was that, according to the Danish football association [DBU], the player’s agent was Darryl Powell, who had a two year deal to represent the winger, which all led to a mess that has still be resolved, as Tipsbladet cover the situation this week.
This is all despite the fact the player will be joining Brighton in the summer instead of West Ham, after the Seagulls finally agreed a €19.5m deal for the young Ghanaian.
First talking to the player to try and find out who his agent was, the Danish outlet were told: “I knew who was in charge of the negotiations, so I was not worried at the time. My team and I were in control of what was going on. As far as I remember, I only have one agent, and that is Mitch Bakkovens. Mitch Bakkovens is my agent.”
Wanting to find out more, the outlet then contacted Darryl Powell, who clearly is very unhappy with the whole situation, especially as he is officially, at least on the DBU website, meant to be Osman’s agent until December 1st of this year.
He said: “You can see on DBU’s website who his agent is. So if Osman says that I am not his agent, then that is what he is saying. There is not much more for me to say. As you can also see at DBU, Ibrahim and I have entered a two-year agreement, and it expires in December 2024.
“If Osman feels that he has only had Mitch Bakkovens as an agent, then that is what he says. You can see what is going on, and I am sure that everything will come to light at some point. That much I can say.”
Therefore, even if West Ham missed out on the player and Brighton got the job done in the end, there remains a lot to be resolved in this matter, with Powell also reportedly in the process of involving lawyers to get to the bottom of it all.
