West Ham have suffered yet another transfer blow because of their incompetence in the window which has seen Crystal Palace capitalise.
According to the Guardian’s Ed Aarons, the Bournemouth midfielder has agreed a four-year deal with Palace as his deal at the Vitality Stadium runs out next month.
This comes around two weeks after it was reported by talkSPORT that the Colombia international wanted a move to the London Stadium.
With Declan Rice set to leave and Manuel Lanzini to follow him out of the door, it made sense for the Hammers to pursue Lerma.
There are also no guarantees whether or not Tomas Soucek will be at the club next season or whether the decision to ship him off will be made.
Regardless, in Lerma, they would’ve gotten a solid Premier League proven defender who could complement Lucas Paqueta perfectly.
He would also be available on a free and the fact that West Ham can offer him European football next season would’ve been all the more tempting for him over joining Palace.
It’s the incompetence in the club’s hierarchy that has cost them another player and this should not be the course for the rest of the transfer window.
Replacing Rice is not going to be easy and the club know that so it makes sense to plan in advance and get deals done before the window opens like how Palace have done.
