One Premier League star was linked with a move to West Ham United last year, but the transfer failed to happen in the end.
West Ham manager David Moyes brought in four fantastic new signings in the summer of 2023, but one player he chased pretty much all window failed to move to us in the end.
The Hammers signed Mohammed Kudus, James Ward-Prowse, Edson Alvarez and Konstantinos Mavropanos after Declan Rice joined Arsenal in a £105 million summer deal.
It could actually be argued that West Ham have improved as a team all round since the 2023 summer transfer window.
We are currently sitting in seventh spot in the Premier League table and have a two-legged Europa League quarter-final against Bayer Leverkusen to look forward to next month.
I reckon we’re pretty strong squad on the whole. Some new additions will obviously be needed in the summer but on the whole, I’m pretty happy where our squad is at right now.
That said, it seems as though we could have been even stronger, had one club been willing to sell us their star man…
£60m PL star opens up about failed West Ham move
West Ham seemingly tried to sign one of the Premier League’s very best midfield players in the summer transfer window.
Unfortunately for us though, we didn’t manage to get a deal for him over the line.
Joao Palhinha has opened up on the Hammers’ interest in signing him nine months ago. West Ham apparently made a £50 million bid for the 28-year-old, but he remained with Fulham in the end.
The Cottagers were actually wanted around £60 million for the Portugal international (The Sun).
And now he has opened up on a very good offer he received from West Ham, when speaking to Portuguese outlet O Jogo (print edition March 28th, pages 10+11):
“At the time, I received an excellent offer from West Ham and had a conversation with Fulham’s owner, who committed himself to renewing my contract. I took it as a vote of confidence. I never expected that Bayern would turn up in the final stages of the market.”
Palhinha has been in exceptional form for the Cottagers this season. He’s in the top 10 in the Premier League for interceptions with 38 in 24 games played, and sits top of the list for tackles made, with 110 (Official Premier League website).
He is a truly brilliant player, and it would be no surprise to see him move on and join one of the Premier League or European giants in the upcoming summer transfer window.
After Palhinha’s failed West Ham move, he really has gone from strength to strength. It’s just such a shame that we missed out on him.
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