Lazio club president Claudio Lotito has claimed that Keita Balde turned down an offer from West Ham this summer.
The 22-year-old Balde has reportedly attracted the interest of a number of clubs this summer including AC Milan and Tottenham. However his desire is reportedly to join Italian Champions Juventus, who are not prepared to meet his asking price.
Keita has just one more year left on his contract with Lazio and has rejected contract renewal offers from the club. It is likely that the club will look to sell him before the end of the transfer window.
The Senegal international did not play in his team’s Italian Super Cup victory over Juventus and Lotito confirmed that he rejected a £29.2 million move to West Ham.
Lotito said, “First things first, it’s not true that we have not proposed a new contract to Keita, “We met twice with his agent, Roberto Calenda, and Keita’s brother was present too. We offered him the same wages as Miroslav Klose, the highest-paid player under my tenure. The response was that the lad wanted to leave Lazio.
“There were three formal offers, all of them I can prove with documentation. Milan would’ve given us €35m, West Ham €32m and Napoli €30m.
“Keita and his agent replied they were not interested in any of the three, that the destination they wanted was Juventus. The player confirmed it to me in the pre-season training camp.”
