David Moyes has candidly revealed why two players decided against joining West Ham this summer, and why three others were allowed to leave.
The Hammers enjoyed a productive summer aiming to capitalize on the heroism of last season when they qualified for the Europa League semi-finals and finished seventh in the Premier League.
Five new players have been signed for an estimated £100million, including striker Gianluca Scamacca from Sassuolo, defender Nayef Aguerd and Burnley star Maxwell Cornet.
Moyes was planning even more signings, in the form of former loanee Jesse Lingard and Sporting CP midfielder Matheus Nunes.
Lingard, who instead left Manchester United for Nottingham Forest, played on loan at London Stadium in 2021 and was one of the league’s best performers in his six months.
However, that wasn’t enough to convince him to return to West Ham, as revealed by Moyes.
“The owners and managers have made a great offer for Jesse,” said the Scot. “It was not a failure of the club. Jesse had the right to choose where he wanted to go.
Moyes also commented on a rumored move for Portugal international Nunes which didn’t go through.
“We made an offer for him but the boy chose not to come,” he said. “We try to add players who can make us competitive and try to put us near the top of the league.
“We want good quality players. We don’t want to fill places for the sake of it.
Moyes added that his side were still pushing for more players, saying: “We’re trying really hard, we’ve made a lot of offers.
“If I had to give an update, I would give it to my club team. I don’t know about Memphis Depay.
Discussing the departures, he continued: “It was important Arthur [Masuaku] left, we wanted to give him more playing time, same with [Nikola] Vlasic, we couldn’t guarantee to find a position.
“Issa [Diop] felt he wasn’t going to be as involved, so it was better for him too.
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