Lyon blame West Ham as Benrahma move collapses

Benrahma joined West Ham from Brentford in 2020 for a fee that could go up to £30 million.

Lyon has accused West Ham of showing disrespect and causing the failure of a loan agreement for Said Benrahma.

On the day of the transfer deadline, the 28-year-old Algerian winger was scheduled to depart on loan to the French team.

However, the Hammers announced in the wee hours of Friday that the transfer could not be finalized prior to the 11pm deadline.

Real Betis is waiting for the confirmation of Pablo Fornals' transfer as there was a technical issue that occurred on the part of West Ham.

Following the breakdown of Benrahma's transfer, Lyon criticized West Ham for failing to take the necessary steps to finalize the agreement.

The Ligue 1 team expressed their disappointment towards the Premier League team's actions in a firm declaration. They used harsh words to criticize the behavior of West Ham, deeming it incomprehensible. Olympique Lyonnais stated their regret towards the situation and labeled the decision as showing a significant lack of respect towards the player and institution.

Lyon, which is under the ownership of Eagle Football Holdings led by John Textor, a co-owner of Crystal Palace, has stated that they may take further actions to confirm the transaction in the future and could hold West Ham liable if needed.

When questioned about the reason for Benrahma's failed transfer, David Moyes, the manager of the Hammers, revealed on Friday that there seemed to be issues with the documentation at the eleventh hour. However, he was only made aware of it after his game last night.

Benrahma became a member of West Ham, coming from Brentford in October 2020. He has a contract with West Ham that lasts until the year 2026.

During the Europa Conference League final against Fiorentina last season, he initiated the game and scored the first point through a penalty in West Ham's stunning victory of 2-1.

Despite playing in 22 matches this season, the attacker was not able to score a goal. Additionally, they were expelled during the FA Cup replay loss against Bristol City on January 16th. Interestingly, Benrahma was excluded from Algeria's team for the Africa Cup of Nations competition, causing some controversy.

In the meantime, Real Betis express optimism that they can still finalize Fornals' transfer to Spain for £6.8 million, even though the expiration date has passed.

According to Spanish media, Ramon Alarcon, the CEO of Real Betis, mentioned that there was a problem with Fornals at the last moment, and they suspect it was due to a computer issue.

Betis managed to submit all the necessary documents in a timely and proper manner. However, it seems that West Ham encountered some technical glitches with their computer systems, which affected not only Betis but also other agreements. We remain optimistic that the situation will be resolved shortly and with little inconvenience.

Both parties have completed their tasks. We believe that the issue can be resolved with a computer glitch. We are actively working on the problem and remain hopeful for a solution.

Moyes has stated that it is still possible for the deal to occur, even though the deadline was missed.

During his news conference, Moyes shared his thoughts that the agreement with Pablo may have a high possibility of being approved.

At the moment, I am not able to give a definite answer whether it will occur or not.

Moyes stated that they aimed to boost their team, and they dedicated lots of effort to acquiring a striker. However, they fell short of their goal in the end.

Fornals, who is 27 years old, has played in 202 matches for West Ham since he joined the team from Villarreal in 2019.

However, the midfield player has encountered significant difficulties in securing a consistent starting position throughout the current season, due to the additions of Mohammed Kudus and James Ward-Prowse during the summer transfer window. As a result, they have only been selected to start in four Premier League matches during the 2023-24 campaign.

Even though West Ham decided to activate a one-year extension on Fornal's contract back in December, it was expected that they would be willing to sell him if an appropriate offer came their way.