3 months ago
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LYON last night blasted West Ham for their “incomprehensible behaviour” and “lack of respect” after the collapse of Said Benrahma’s move to France.
The furious French club had cameras ready to announce Benrahma live on TV last night, but, in a scathing statement, claimed West Ham failed to submit their side of the deal to Fifa’s Transfer Matching System (TMS).
2023 Vince Mignott/MB MediaLyon are lodging an appeal with Fifa over the issue and say they will “hold West Ham responsible”.
SunSport understands Lyon had their TMS process completed 90 minutes before the deadline, while many at West Ham were also shocked by the failure.
Some insiders suspected it was a simple administrative mistake, with one conceding Lyon may have been too hasty in lambasting West Ham.
One source in France told SunSport West Ham “went dark” on the Ligue 1 side when all that was needed was the TMS approval, which can be done in under ten minutes.
TMS is the online system used by Fifa to approve deals once all details have been agreed between the clubs. Fees, bank account numbers and agent details must all be entered for the transfer to go through.
Lyon claim they had completed their side of the TMS process but were ignored when they asked West Ham to do the same.
All details of the Algerian’s loan deal had been agreed between the two clubs and Benrahma had flown out to France earlier in the day to complete his medical.
West Ham said in a statement that the deal did not happen because it could not be finalised before the 11pm deadline, while club insiders pointed the finger at Benrahma’s representatives for repeated delays.
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Lyon said: “Olympique Lyonnais deeply regretted the failure of Benrahma’s transfer, for reasons beyond his control, and questioned West Ham’s behaviour in failing to finalise the required administrative procedures, despite all the agreements made.
“The two clubs had signed a temporary transfer agreement.
“However, early in the evening, while Olympique Lyonnais had entered all the administrative data on FIFA’s dedicated platform, FIFA TMS, West Ham had never initiated the slightest technical procedure of their own, despite repeated reminders from OL and continuous mutual telephone communication.
“In the absence of this reciprocal action from the English club and due to this incomprehensible behavior, raising questions, the international transfer certificate could not be requested before the deadline.
“Olympique Lyonnais deeply regrets this situation and this decision, which shows a profound lack of respect on the part of West Ham towards both the Institution and the player.
“The club reserves the right to initiate all procedures to validate the transaction after the event, and to hold West Ham responsible if necessary.”
A West Ham spokesperson said: “West Ham United can confirm that the Deadline Day deal for Said Benrahma to join Olympique Lyonnais was not concluded ahead of the deadline, with a deal unable to be completed before 11pm.”
All this unfolded as West Ham were facing Bournemouth in the Premier League, with manager David Moyes having complained that his side had to play a game on deadline day.
Pablo Fornals was set to join Real Betis after a deal had been agreed but spent the entire game watching from the tunnel at the London Stadium.
Moyes said: “I don’t want to be moaning about it but you would think it could have been wrapped up last night.
“It’s our own fault but in this country the culture is we do so many deals on the last day. Really, you should be doing deals on the first day, not the last day.
“This window has been a really slow burner and because of that we’ve been left with a couple of things getting done on the last day, on a game night, which we’ve now had twice this season.”
Fulham made a late approach to sign the former Brentford winger on deadline day, but West Ham did not want to sell to a Premier League rival.
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