West Ham reportedly had permission to sign Piotr Zielinski from Napoli in the summer, but refused to meet his wage demands.
That’s according to a report from Il Mattino who claim that Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis had ‘authorised West Ham to negotiate’ with Zielinski in the summer.
However, talks broke down when the Hammers refused to meet his demands of €5 million (£4.3 million) per year…AFTER TAX!
That works out at a whopping £165k-a-week before tax that West Ham would have had to pay the Poland international.
He was allegedly available for around d £35 million.
I’m actually happy that we didn’t sign him. That kind of salary would have totally ruined the wage structure at the London Stadium…
West Ham didn’t match Piotr Zielinski wage demands
The Hammers actually had permission to speak to the Pole about move to the London Stadium, according to a report from Il Mattino.
The transfer didn’t happen in the end though, after West Ham refused to buckle to his outlandish wage demands.
Good on the owners.
Let’s be real, had the Hammers signed Zielinski, we certainly wouldn’t have Lucas Paqueta now.
And in my opinion, the Brazilian star is on a whole other level entirely to the Napoli midfielder.
The Hammers owners have been guilty in the past of throwing ridiculous money money at short-term fixes.
And West Ham would have made a big mistake by offering Piotr Zielinski such an extortionate salary.
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