West Ham United tried and failured to lure Matty Cash away from Nottingham Forest and into the Premier League during the January transfer window.
Nottingham Forest star Matty Cash has admitted that he was aware of reported interest from West Ham United during the January transfer window, speaking to Football London.
It’s hard to believe that the Forest academy graduate has only been plying his trade as a right-back for less than a year. A converted winger, Cash has made a positional switch look like second nature under Sabri Lamouchi, establishing himself almost immediately as one of the Championship’s most effective and influential full-backs.
As reported by Sky, Southampton and even AC Milan expressed an interest in snatching the 22-year-old away from the City Ground three months ago, while West Ham failed with a £12 million bid.
And while Cash was understandably keen to avoid any distractions as Nottingham Forest fight for a place in the play-offs, that relentless speculation proved to be almost impossible to ignore.
“My agent had a few chats with me. There were a few conversations but I had a job to do at the time and a few games to focus on. But I heard about it, yeah!,” said the one-time Wycombe Wanderers youngster, who has three goals and four league assists this season.
With Pablo Zabaleta retiring and Ryan Fredericks struggling with fitness and form of late, West Ham are expected to make a new right-back one of their top priorities this summer amid links with Gonzalo Montiel, Ola Aina and co.
And if Nottingham Forest fall short in the promotion battle when the 2019/20 season is deemed safe to resume, expect West Ham to test the water again. Especially with David Moyes targeting more of the Championship’s most exciting, homegrown stars after landing Jarrod Bowen from Hull City (Sun).
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
