West Ham United will have to shelve any hopes of breaking their club transfer record to sign Maxi Gomez this month as Celta Vigo pull out of negotiations, according to the Evening Standard.
Gomez emerged as one of the leading contenders to replace Marko Arnautovic earlier in the month when Krzysztof Piatek joined AC Milan and Torino refused to negotiate a transfer for Andrea Belotti.
Even though the Austrian then signed a contract extension at London Stadium, negotiations for the Uruguayan centre-forward continued in order to prepare for the future in case Arnautovic leaves for China in the summer.
Gomez is 22-years-old and has regularly been the leading light of Celta’s offence, despite their struggles in La Liga, which led to the Hammers considering the activation of his £43.5million release clause.
With Arnautovic agreeing to new terms and Celta dropping into the bottom three, however, the hopes of landing Gomez will have to wait until the summer, despite discussions being underway to buy the striker for £40million and then loan the 9-cap Uruguay international back for the remainder of the campaign.
The Evening Standard, though, are now reporting that those plans have been scrapped as the Spanish side have walked away from negotiations, stating a refusal to sell in January.
If West Ham want to bring Gomez to London Stadium, they will have to reignite their interest in the summer and potentially face a rival offer from Barcelona.
