Hull City playmaker Robert Snodgrass is all but off to West Ham United.
The 29-year-old is leaving the Tigers in exchange for a reported $13 million fee, on his way to London, Hull manager Marco Silva confirmed. Silva said after Hull’s 2-1 win over Manchester United that Snodgrass’s move “is close” and could be completed “in the next hours.”
According to the BBC, Middlesbrough and Burnley both also submitted bids, but neither reached the level of West Ham’s offer. Hull City, already in the relegation zone, is falling apart at the seams. With Silva just brought on earlier this month, the club has already sold midfielder Jake Livermore to West Brom, and now Snodgrass leaves too. The Scottish international is the team’s leading scorer and assister this season, and when healthy is one of the most electric players in the Hull City squad. However, the performance of loanee Oumar Niasse against Manchester United will give Hull fans hope that they can soldier on in a relegation battle without Snodgrass.
One player who won’t be on the move is Leicester City winger Islam Slimani. The newest player to be subjected to rumors of a big-money offer from China, Leicester manager Claudio Ranieri said Slimani won’t be going anywhere. “Slimani is not for sale,” Ranieri told the media. With last year’s hero Riyad Mahrez unable to recapture his title-winning form, Slimani has become an important player for the Foxes. With the pair in Africa on international duty, the club has garnered just one point from three matches.
However, Ranieri wouldn’t deny rumors that the Foxes were in for Middlesbrough winger Gaston Ramirez. The Italian said that “in six days you will know” the situation with Ramirez. Reports has claimed that Ramirez has handed in a transfer request at Middlesbrough, and manager Aitor Karanka was not happy.
A player Karanka could target to replace Ramirez could be Aston Villa youngster Jack Grealish. The Villa forward is a local Birmingham kid who came up through the Aston Villa youth system, but now has the potential to bail on Villa’s Championship struggles and return to the Premier League, according to the Daily Mail. The 21-year-old has three goals and four assists in 21 Championship appearances this season.