Crystal Palace and West Ham had made a late attempt to sign former Barcelona starlet Munir El Haddadi from Sevilla in the summer.
In a recent interview with ABC Sevilla, Munir El Haddadi’s agent Francisco Valdivieso has revealed the interest from Premier League clubs Crystal Palace and West Ham. Even Sevilla were apparently willing to offload him for a fee of just €10 million or were open to a loan deal with a buy option.
“In England, both Crystal Palace and West Ham showed a lot of interest until the last day of the market,” Valdivieso told ABC Sevilla while further confirming his client’s desire to ultimately remain in Spain, adding: “Munir didn’t want to leave Sevilla or La Liga. In Spain, the offers he has received have not been to his liking”.
A product of the famed La Masia youth academy of Barcelona, Munir has spent the last two and a half years at Sevilla, joining the club for a fee of just €1 million. The winger clearly hasn’t lived up to his potential or has had an upturn of fortunes at his new club, but his tally of 22 goals in 88 competitive matches certainly isn’t too bad for a €1 million investment.
West Ham or Crystal Palace’s interest in Munir this summer was hardly a surprise, as the Hammers, in particular, were looking to cost-effective options to replace Jesse Lingard in the final third. Unfortunately, neither of them arrived in London, forcing them to opt for former Everton flop Nikola Vlasic.
For Crystal Palace, their pursuit of a new attacker likely stemmed from the uncertainty surrounding the future of star man Wilfried Zaha. The Ivorian’s current contract at Selhurst Park expires in 2023 and with the likes of Jordan Ayew and Christian Benteke not coming up with solid numbers in attack, reinforcement was sought.
Munir, to that end, could have been an ideal addition to either of those clubs. But it appears a prolonged stay at Sevilla might just be the most logical option for the former Barcelona man.
Indeed, the summer exit of Bryan Gil to Tottenham Hotspur has opened up an opportunity for Munir to fight for his place to become a first-team regular for Julen Lopetegui next season. Unfortunately for the attacker, though, he is yet to feature in any of the three games in the new season, so it will be interesting to see what the future holds for this talented star in the near future.
