The door has been opened for West Ham to launch a renewed bid for Barcelona starlet Alen Halilovic after Hamburg pulled out of a deal.
Barcelona have been looking for a club to offer Halilovic a home and regular first team football for the forthcoming campaign after their B side suffered relegation to Spain's third tier last season.
West Ham were strongly linked with the Croatian, but appeared set to lose out when Hamburg made their move.
But now, having considered their position, the Bundesliga club have pulled out after coming to the conclusion they cannot offer Halilovic a guarantee of regular game time.
Hamburg said in a statement: "We have reached a decision on Alen Halilovic from FC Barcelona and he will not be loaned.
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"We cannot guarantee him enough playing time."
The 19-year-old was snapped up by Barcelona from Dinamo Zagreb in the summer of 2014, but has seen his action mainly restricted to turning out for the club's B team.
Halilovic, who penned a five-year deal with the Catalans upon joining, made his senior side debut in a Copa del Rey game against Elche in January this year.
