West Ham have pulled out of a move to sign Portuguese international midfielder William Carvalho from Sporting Lisbon, according to Sky Sources.
Sky claim that the Hammers have pulled out of the deal over the cost of the 37-time international.
It is claimed that Sporting Lisbon wanted £40m for the 25-year-old and the Hammers weren’t prepared to pay that much.
It is reported that they were also worried whether the player would be fit enough to play for them straight away.
“He just got too expensive and you have to say no sometimes,” said a source at West Ham, as quoted by Sky Sports.
“Also, he’s not trained for three weeks. He has done no preseason training – so he might have needed 4-6 weeks to be ready to play for us.”
A good move for West Ham?
It’s true, sometimes you have to know when to back out of a deal. £40million is a huge amount for a player – even one as talented as Carvalho. For that sort of cash you have to get someone who’s raring to go and if West Ham are right about his fitness levels then pulling out of the deal is a no-brainer. It’s a shame – it would have been good to see him in the Premier League and West Ham fans must have been excited about the prospect of signing such a high-profile player but it would seem like it’s a good move to withdraw. The player has only made one appearance this season and missed the next two games with dispensation for leave and a muscle injury, according to Transfer Markt. It’s a shame but hopefully Slaven Bilic will find another target to spend the money on, although with just a week left to go before the transfer window slams shut, it’s unlikely.
This Is Futbol rating: 9/10