Swedish midfielder Fredrik Hammar 'hesitated' about signing for Plymouth Argyle after the departure of head coach Wayne Rooney and with the club bottom of the Championship and is expected to join Belgian side KV Mechelen.

That is according to a report in Swedish newspaper Sportbladet, which stated Argyle were among three Championship sides who wanted Hammar to join them in the winter transfer window.

Argyle were first linked with the 23-year-old midfielder by Sportbladet in November after he had played 25 times for Stockholm-based Hammarby during the 2024 Allsvenskan season, when they finished runners-up to Malmo.

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Now in their latest report about Hammar, Sportbladet's Daniel Kristofferson wrote: "Fredrik Hammar has had interest from several different foreign clubs and, among other things, Sportbladet could reveal that Plymouth Argyle wanted to sign the midfielder.

"But manager Wayne Rooney was sacked and the club's table position caused the player to hesitate. At the same time, two other clubs in The Championship also wanted Hammar in the winter window. But according to Sportbladet's information, it will now be Belgium and KV Mechelen for the midfielder.

"The clubs are in agreement, the player is in agreement on his personal terms, and the transfer will be official any day now if nothing unforeseen happens.

"Fredrik Hammar played 25 games for Hammarby during the past season. The midfielder came to Bajen in January 2022 and has become extremely popular with the supporters." Mechelen are currently eighth out of 16 teams in the Jupiler League, the top flight of Belgian football, with 27 points from 20 games.

Argyle appear to be targeting the Scandinavian market for new recruits to their squad. Swedish midfielder Rami Al Hajj joined from Danish side Odense at the end of August while Ghana international midfielder Michael Baidoo completed his club record transfer from Swedish outfit Elfsborg on Friday.

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