West Ham United have been dealt a huge blow in their bid to bring Aaron Wan-Bissaka to the London Stadium this summer.
What’s the latest?
That’s according to Simon Stone, with the BBC Sport journalist revealing in a recent post on Twitter that, despite earlier reports suggesting that Manchester United could be willing to part with the right-back in the next 24 hours, Erik ten Hag has now confirmed that the defender will not be leaving Old Trafford prior to Thursday’s transfer deadline.
In his tweet, the journalist said: “Erik ten Hag confirms Aaron Wan-Bissaka will stay at Man Utd beyond Thursday’s deadline. Once Antony + Dubravka deals are complete ‘We will go from September to minimum January with this squad’.”
Big blow for Moyes
Considering just how impressive a full-back Wan-Bissaka evidently is, the news that Manchester United are not prepared to sanction the £10m defender’s departure over the remainder of the summer transfer window is sure to have come as a huge blow to David Moyes and his West Ham transfer team.
Indeed, the £22.5m-rated talent proved just how astute a signing he would’ve been for the Hammers over his 34 Premier League fixtures in 2020/21, with the full-back scoring two goals, providing four assists and creating two big chances for his teammates, in addition to making an average of 0.9 key passes and completing one dribble per game.
The £90k-per-week defender also impressed in metrics more typical of his position, helping the Red Devils keep 13 clean sheets, as well as making an average of 2.6 tackles, 1.8 interceptions, 1.8 clearances and winning 5.1 duels – at a success rate of 58% – per fixture.
These metrics saw the former England U21 international who Dan Gibbs dubbed “unreal” average a simply sensational SofaScore match rating of 7.14, ranking him as Manchester United’s third-best performer in the top flight of English football that season.
As such, when considering the fact that United spent £50m on the signing of Wan-Bissaka as recently as 2019, should Moyes have been able to land the right-back for just £10m this summer, it is clear to see that the 59-year-old would have been sealing something of a steal for his side.
However, following Stone’s latest update, it would now appear as if the Scot will have to turn his focus over the remainder of the summer transfer window elsewhere – an outcome that is sure to have come as a big late blow.
