‘Here we go’: West Ham deal ‘hijacked’ after being ‘close’ to signing promising Man City teenager

Dutch giants Ajax have “hijacked” West Ham’s deal to sign Manchester City teenager Carlos Borges, according to Fabrizio Romano.

Borges is one of the most promising youth players in England but it looks like City are willing to cut ties with him.

Last season, the 19-year-old scored 29 goals and provided 18 assists in 33 appearances across all competitions for the Cityzens’ Premier League 2 side.

Getting into City’s first team will be far from easy and with Erling Haaland, 23, and Julian Alvarez, 23, ahead of Borges in the pecking order, it is no surprise to see him seek a move elsewhere.

West Ham are clearly looking to sign a new striker with Gianluca Scamacca expected to return to Italy after a single season and they were close to landing the Portugal Under-19 starlet.

Fabrizio Romano revealed last month that the Hammers had agreed to pay £14million for the teenager with negotiations at the “final stages”.

However, the Italian transfer expert has said Ajax have swooped in and agreed a deal to sign Borges, right under West Ham’s nose.

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He wrote on Twitter (not X): “Ajax are set to hijack West Ham deal to sign Manchester City top talent Carlos Borges, here we go!

“Verbal agreement in place, player will be in Amsterdam for medical tests soon as sources close to Ajax confirm. West Ham, close but Ajax hijacked the deal.”

Romano later added that Borges is “already on his way” to the Netherlands to complete his Ajax medical.

Their “hijack” is now “almost completed” in what is a huge blow to David Moyes ahead of the new season.

When discussing West Ham’s talks last month, Romano said City included a buy-back clause in the transfer so it is very likely this will be the case in their agreement with Ajax.

Dutch journalist Johan Inan also confirmed that the 19-year-old will join the Eredivisie giants.

Inan reckons the deal could be finalised by Wednesday in what is a very swift hijacking – our favourite scenario in a transfer window.

Speaking earlier this year, Borges said one player he tries to base his game on is Sadio Mane.

“I watch Sadio Mane, he’s a top winger, a top player,” he told Manchester Evening News. “I look up to him. He’s speedy, direct. He dosen’t do too much, he likes one-twos and when he needs to go he goes.

“My job is to try and help the team out. I do that when I can. [A first-team call-up] would mean a lot, I’ve been working for this basically my whole life.

“It’s not easy at this club but I’ve got to keep working and putting in the work. If we get the opportunity we have to take it.”

This is probably a stretch but Borges’ arrival could hint that Ajax are open to selling Ghanaian forward Mohammed Kudus.

Kudus has been linked with both Chelsea and Arsenal, though the latter are expected to sell before they buy another outfield player.

In 84 appearances for Ajax, the 22-year-old has scored 23 goals and provided 11 assists and also has seven goals in 24 Ghana caps.

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