TalkSPORT’s Alex Crook has claimed that West Ham United ended their interest in signing Youssef En-Nesyri due to having “fingers burnt” with Sebastien Haller.
According to a recent claim from David Ornstein, the Hammers made a €30m (£26.7m) offer to Sevilla for the services of the Moroccan frontman.
That bid included a €25m (£22.3m) upfront fee as well as €5m (£4.5m) in add-ons, however, that bid was rejected by the La Liga outfit.
In his initial tweet, Ornstein claimed that talks were ‘ongoing‘, however, on Thursday, he tweeted again to reveal that the interest was ‘all-but over‘.
In a recent transfer news video uploaded on TalkSPORT’s YouTube channel, Crook discussed West Ham’s hunt for a striker and their interest in En-Nesyri.
When asked if West Ham were close to signing a striker, he said: “I’m not sure they are, you know. I do fully expect them to bring in someone before the window closes.
“We know one of their targets was Youssef En-Nesyri of Sevilla, they had a £27m bid rejected last week, they’ve now been told to cough up £35m.
“My understanding is that interest will not be pursued, I think they’re very keen to not have a repeat of the [Sebastien] Haller situation where they feel they paid over the odds and had their fingers burnt.”
TIF Thoughts on what Alex Crook said about the Youssef En-Nesyri interest…
As can be seen in what the journalist had to say, it seems that the Hammers have ended their interest after learning their lesson following the transfer of Haller.
However, Crook still aired that he expects West Ham to sign a striker before the transfer deadline, so, that may be some consolation for supporters.
Are you pleased to see that West Ham were not prepared to pay over the odds for Youssef En-Nesyri?
Yes, it's a shrewd move
No, we needed him in
While the 23-year-old Moroccan does have until the summer of 2025 on his existing deal with Sevilla, his market value stands at just £13.5m according to Transfermarkt.
So, seemingly, £35m would be way over the odds for the La Liga attacker, meaning that West Ham’s supposed decision to not pursue their interest could be shrewd.