West Ham United have suffered a painful Deadline Day setback after Melvin Bard chose Leeds United despite the Hammers making an offer for the Nice left-back.
West Ham had held positive talks with the 25-year-old as Nuno Espírito Santo desperately searches for a replacement for Malick Diouf.
But ExWHUEmployee reports that Bard has chosen Leeds as his preferred destination, leaving West Ham scrambling for an alternative.
West Ham lose Bard race to Leeds
The setback has now been backed up in France.
L’Équipe reports that both West Ham and Leeds submitted offers to Nice, but the Ligue 1 club accepted Leeds’ proposal.
The deal is a €1m paid loan with a €5m option to buy.
West Ham’s failure to land Bard increases the pressure on their recruitment team with the window closing at 11pm.
The Hammers had already seen Hull City block their attempt to sign Ryan Giles and are in talks with Nottingham Forest over Morato.
ExWHUEmployee says attention will now increase on West Ham’s alternative left-back target.
With Bard heading for Leeds and the clock ticking, West Ham are running out of time to solve one of Nuno’s biggest squad problems.
