Martin Braithwaite: West Ham Close To Signing FC Barcelona Forward Claims Report

West Ham are reportedly close to signing Martin Braithwaite from FC Barcelona.

Exactly a fortnight ago, the local press in Catalonia claimed that the Dane could already be offloaded by his current employers.

As wrote Gabriel Sans of Mundo Deportivo at the time, “both his representative and the club will move to find a way out, although no formal offers have arrived so far”.

Yet it seems they already have, from the predicted source, the Premier League
PINC
, with West Ham willing to table an €20mn offer that would help the Blaugrana balance the books according to the same daily newspaper.

The deal representing a potential profit of €2mn since Barça activated his €18mn release clause with an eventually-relegated Leganes outfit, Braithwaite did not arrive at the Camp Nou in the best of circumstances.

Luis Suarez injuring his knee in the Spanish Super Cup semi-final defeat to Atletico Madrid on January 9, a primary focus on firing then-coach Ernesto Valverde and financial restraints meant that a suitable replacement was not found in that month’s transfer window.

Yet when, on the cusp of his return to first team action in February, Ousmane Dembele pulled up with a hamstring knock, Barça were able to utilize a unique ruling and added another player to the roster outside of the now-closed window.

The leading candidate was Getafe’s Angel Rodriguez, but at the last minute, the Catalans swooped for the 29-year-old.

Initially impressing in a 5-0 win over Eibar, Braithwaite ended Barça’s pre-pandemic landscape as a starter in the 1-0 sneak over Real Sociedad on March 7 that put them back on top of La Liga.

On the return to top flight domestic action, he then played the full 90 minutes in a 0-4 romp at Mallorca and, after scoring his maiden goal in Blaugrana in the process, seemed like he might be here to stay as a permanent fixture in Quique Setien’s first XI.

Then, however, with three draws in four outings, Barcelona eventually lost grip of the title that ended up in the clutches of bitter rivals Real Madrid and the Denmark international has been used sparingly.

Starting just once more since the 0-0 stalemate at Sevilla that was the beginning of the end for their championship defense, he became an unused substitute in three matches.

Completing just 403 minutes out of a possible 1260 across four starts in 11 appearances, while providing a sole goal on the aforementioned Balearic Isle against its local outfit, Braithwaite now appears surplus to requirements and could be destined for a return to England where he once represented Middlesborough.