Club Brugge’s Carlos Forbs has said West Ham United wanted to sign him from Manchester City in 2023.
Wednesday’s edition of Het Belang van Limburg has an interview with the winger. He talked about several topics, including his spell at Manchester City… and rejecting West Ham.
The 21-year-old spent a year at Sporting’s youth system and left them for Manchester City’s academy in 2015. He wasn’t keen on leaving the Lions, and they made an effort to keep him.
“But it was difficult for my parents to find a job there [Portugal]. They believed they had a better chance in Leeds,” he said,
“I wanted to stay in Lisbon because things were going so well at Sporting. I was about 10 years old, and the club didn’t want to let me go either. Sporting even offered my parents jobs eventually, but they decided to go a different way. But I can’t complain; it all worked out that way.”
HBVL explain his father had promised that Forbs would return to Sporting if he failed to find a solution in England within 15 days.
“Right. I said, ‘Okay, nice.’ But he actually found a [Manchester City] team. [laughs],” Forbs explained.
The 21-year-old said his father used to drive him to Manchester City’s training centre. He spent eight years with the Premier League side’s academy and left them for Ajax in August 2023.
West Ham wanted to secure the Portugal international’s services. However, he turned them down in favour of the Eredivisie side. He mentioned the Hammers when explaining his decision to leave Manchester City.
“Well, I thought it was time to get a chance with a first team. Halfway through the season, I told my father I wanted to leave, and he agreed,” he added.
“In the summer, I could choose between Ajax or West Ham. Ajax is the biggest team in the Netherlands, with quite a bit of history and trophies, so that was a logical decision.”
When asked whether it was a wrong choice to pick Ajax, Forbs said: “I have no regrets, really.”
Carlos Forbs was loaned to Wolves by Ajax, which didn’t go well. His move to Club Brugge has seen him excel and be called up by Portugal’s senior team.
