Much has been made of West Ham’s failed bid to sign Anderlecht midfielder Leander Dendoncker during the January transfer window but the player himself has had his say on the proposed move.
West Ham saw a deadline day bid worth £13m – with just £4.4m upfront – rejected by Anderlecht for their midfield star but the Belgian himself was hoping that a deal would be reached right up until the deadline.
Speaking about a potential January move, Dendoncker reveals that he thought West Ham would’ve been a great move for him as the next step in his career progression.
Twitter: Leander Dendoncker in @hlnsport: “West Ham seemed to me a good club to take the next step in my career.” #whufc
(… https://t.co/qkT0W88aht (@HLNinEngeland)
West Ham seemed to me a good club to take the next step in my career.
After watching his midfield partner Youri Tielemans leave last summer for Monaco, Dendoncker explains how devastated he was to lose his teammate and reveals Anderlecht didn’t want to let him leave as well.
The disappointment was great – I could barely overcome it. I noticed that after the departure of Youri they did not want to get rid of the whole midfield.
The 22-year-old holding midfielder spent much of the January transfer window trying to manufacture a transfer he reveals, and his agent was also confident it would come off, but West Ham were unable to get the deal done.
I was on the phone every day with my agent. I was told, ‘Be patient, it will come around, maybe at the very end.’
I was constantly working on that transfer, instead of just focusing on the training. I was wrong, I realise that. But it was the first time I came into such a situation, I just did not know how to deal with it.
Anderlecht was not the problem, it’s just that after the title [last season] I had the desire to take the next step in my career.
