West Ham tried and failed on deadline day with a last-ditch swop for Everton striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin, according to a reliable journalist.
Daily Mail reporter Dominic King claimed on his personal Twitter account that the Hammers and Huddersfield enquired about the Premier League centre-forward on Wednesday.
However, Everton decided to reject both approaches and the 20-year-old has remained at Goodison Park following the closure of the January transfer window.
Dominic Calvert-Lewin was one of the 5 players in last night’s squad who Sam Allardyce said had been the subject of loan bids. Huddersfield and West Ham both enquired, both instantly rejected ?
— Dominic King (@DominicKing_DM) February 1, 2018
Calvert-Lewin is a highly-rated talent at the Merseyside club and has scored seven goals in 36 appearances this season.
The England Under-21 international has been an important player in Sam Allardyce’s squad, but could now find himself stuck behind either Oumar Niasse or Cenk Tosun in the pecking order.
West Ham did manage to sign a striker on deadline day despite missing out on Calvert-Lewin, with Jordan Hugill arriving from Championship side Preston.
OPINION
West Ham clearly need an extra attacking option in their squad and picking up Calvert-Lewin on loan would have been an interesting move. The young English striker is still developing many aspects of his game and was perhaps not the right man to arrive at the London stadium on deadline day. David Moyes’ side took a punt on Hugill instead and he will be under pressure to deliver. The centre-forward has scored 10 goals across all competitions this season for Preston, but is now facing a considerable step up to the top flight. He still has time on his side at 25 and will be keen to prove any doubters wrong that he can be prolific at Premier League level.