Chelsea and West Ham agreed a loan deal for Fikayo Tomori on Monday but the player pulled out just 10 minutes before the transfer deadline passed as he preferred to fight for his place at Stamford Bridge.
The two London clubs had agreed a loan fee for the centre-back and how his wages would be split during the season-long loan.
Everything appeared to be in order, until Tomori pulled out of the move at 10.50pm as he rejected the move from west to east London, reports the Sun.
The late decision leaves West Ham in the lurch somewhat as David Moyes’ search for a new centre-back, which went on for the entirety of the transfer window, was ultimately unsuccessful.
Wesley Fofana, Jonathan Tah, James Tarkowski, Craig Dawson and Joe Rodon were all linked to the club, but none came to fruition.
The Hammers signed Czech right-back Vladimir Coufal from Slavia Prague this summer, but that was their only defensive addition to the squad.
Tomori will remain at Stamford Bridge where he faces serious competition for a place in the first team and appears to be behind Thiago Silva, Kurt Zouma and Andreas Christensen in the pecking order.
The 22-year-old also has Antonio Rudiger to compete with for a starting spot, but the German is even more out of favour than the England international having not made a single appearance yet this season.
After his only Premier League display, against Liverpool, Lampard was pleased with Tomori and insisted he has full faith in him.
‘I think Tomori did really well, he hasn’t played for a while and it shows his fitness with the rest of the squad, and I was delighted with him,’ said Lampard after the defeat to Liverpool.
‘I hope he feels the trust in him. He showed that last year, starting last season’s pre-season as fifth centre-back in most people’s eyes and then playing 20-plus games for Chelsea, so I have got full confidence in him.’
