Lyon has placed blame on West Ham for the breakdown of Said Benrahma’s anticipated deadline-day loan move from the London Stadium to the French club.
The winger appeared poised to join Ligue 1 after a loan agreement with an obligation to buy was reached between the two teams.
Despite Benrahma’s travel to Lyon on Thursday to finalise the transfer, it collapsed at the last minute, with the French club accusing West Ham of not completing the required administrative tasks on their end.
In a fiery statement, Lyon said: “Olympique Lyonnais were delighted to welcome Said Benrahma to Lyon this Thursday to finalise his transfer from West Ham. As the evening commenced, Olympique Lyonnais diligently entered all the necessary administrative data on the dedicated FIFA platform.
However, West Ham failed to initiate any technical procedures on their end, despite numerous reminders from Olympique Lyonnais and continuous mutual telephone communication.
“In the absence of this reciprocal action on the part of the English club and following this incomprehensible behaviour, raising questions, the international transfer certificate could not be requested before closing time.
“Olympique Lyonnais deeply regrets this situation and this decision, demonstrating a profound lack of respect on the part of West Ham towards the Institution and the player. The club reserves the right to undertake all appropriate procedures necessary to validate the transaction at a later date and to hold West Ham responsible if necessary.”
Benrahma’s proposed loan was not the only West Ham exit to go to the wire on deadline day, with confusion also surrounding Pablo Fornals’ proposed £7 million ($9m) move to Real Betis.
The Spanish side’s CEO, Ramon Alarcon, told 101 TV: “There is a last-minute incident with Fornals that we believe is a computer incident that we have been working on to be able to fix it.
“Betis gave all the documents in a timely manner and West Ham seems to have had a problem with their computer tool, not only in the case of Betis but in others, and we hope that it will be resolved in the next few days, tomorrow or the day after. We are optimistic but cautious.”
With the midfielder already registered on La Liga’s website, the confirmation of the transfer seems imminent. Lyon has indicated its intention to appeal to FIFA, pushing for the completion of Benrahma’s move.
The expected confirmation of Fornals’ departure could leave the West Ham squad somewhat depleted. However, a loan addition, Kalvin Phillips from Manchester City, has been secured to bolster the team.