West Ham have been dealt a huge blow as midfielder Pedro Obiang has been ruled out of the season through injury.
As a result, manager David Moyes will be left to rue missing out on January transfer target and Anderlecht midfielder Leander Dendoncker.
Reports have emerged that West Ham’s insistence on paying the Belgian giants’ £13million asking price in installments led to the move falling through.
The Hammers wanted to pay £4.4million as the first instalment, but Anderlecht wanted them to part with the full payment before releasing the deep-lying midfielder.
Dendoncker is keen on moving to east London in order to take his career to the next level, and he did reveal: “West Ham seemed to me a good club to take the next step in my career.”
It remains to be seen if the Hammers will return with an improved bid for the youngster next summer, as the Jupiler Pro League would have likely changed the goal post on their asking price post-World Cup.
Should Dendoncker put in an impressive performance at the summer tournament for Belgium, more suitors will emerge for his signature, and it could much harder for West Ham to land their man after narrowly missing out last month.
