West Ham have missed a transfer payment deadline to Eintracht Frankfurt for Sebastein Haller but football.london understands it is in the process of being dealt with and the club is confident they won’t face any sanctions from FIFA.
The Hammers signed the French striker for £45million last summer and it is thought the club paid 75 per cent of the fee up front to secure Haller and the rest was to be paid in installments. The latest was due on May 15 but that has not been paid and the club has been threatened with a sanction from FIFA for the missed payment.
The Times reported that Frankfurt had lodged an official complaint to FIFA, who subsequently confirmed to the newspaper: “We can confirm that we have received a claim from the German club Eintracht Frankfurt against English club West Ham United.
“The matter is still being investigated and consequently we cannot provide any further comments.”
Football.London understands that an issue between the two clubs, which is commercially confidential and cannot be disclosed, has resulted in the latest payment being delayed from London toi Germany. But there is no funding issue at the club and the payment will be processed once the matter is resolved.
Haller has netted just seven times for the Hammers this season since making his club-record move to east London from Germany and has missed the first three matches of Project Restart with a hip injury.
West Ham owners David Sullivan and David Gold had to inject £30million into the club in May amid the coronavirus pandemic when football was halted for three months.
The Hammers managed to keep their full time staff off the government furlough scheme as a result.
Vice-chairman Karren Brady and CFO Andy Mollett both took 30 per cent pay cuts to help the club through these financially difficult times with teams unable to generate any matchday income thanks to all games being played behind closed doors for the rest of the season.
West Ham are expected to take a big financial hit this year, as will almost everyother Premier League club, as the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic hits football hard
