West Ham man had multiple options to leave before deadline – Lopetegui and Steidten blocked deal

West Ham United’s Andy Irving was blocked from joining Sturm Graz at the end of the transfer window.

That’s according to La Ola 1, who report that Julen Lopetegui and Tim Steidten prevented the Scotland midfielder from departing the London Stadium.

LaOla1 explain that Irving has had an exciting summer after moving to West Ham permanently following a loan spell at Austria Klagenfurt.

West Ham bought the midfielder from the Austrian club in a €1.76m deal in August last year but left him there until this summer to continue his development.

He was a part of the Hammers’ pre-season training and is believed to have impressed Lopetegui and his team. But a summer of big spending, particularly on their midfield options, has left him down the squad list.

Reports in England have made it clear that Celtic were keen late in the window and Bundesliga newcomers St Pauli had also shown an interest before then. La Ola 1 now add Sturm Graz into the mix, stating that they were working on signing the midfielder also.

However, Lopetegui and technical director Tim Steidten are believed to have ‘put a stop’ to a departure before it was made official.

They wanted to keep Irving to ensure the Spaniard had plenty of options and so a deal was rejected, with Sturm Graz instead signing Malick Yalcouyé from Brighton.