Last night, Benrahma, 28, was at Lyon’s training ground after completing his medical. The club was set to officially announce the move on French TV, but a mix-up during the confirmation process led to the deal collapsing. West Ham failed to submit the appropriate details to FIFA’s Transfer Matching System (TMS) before the 11pm deadline, causing the deal to fall through. Despite the process taking just around five minutes, West Ham failed to complete it, leading to speculation that they intentionally obstructed the deal.
In a statement, West Ham cited the inability to finalize the deal before the deadline, blaming Benrahma’s representatives for repeated delays. Olympique Lyonnais expressed their disappointment, stating that West Ham had not initiated any technical procedure of their own, leading to the transfer certificate not being requested before the deadline. The French club also expressed their regret and deemed West Ham’s behavior as showing a lack of respect towards the institution and the player. On the football front, Olympique Lyonnais is struggling in the relegation zone in Ligue 1, having lost 11 of their 19 matches.
Meanwhile, Benrahma has had limited game time this season, starting only five Premier League matches. He joined West Ham from Brentford in 2020 and has scored 24 goals in 146 games.
