Three years after West Ham United missed out, Leicester City could finally bring Real Betis’s William Carvalho to the Premier League.
Slaven Bilic admits that he was priced out of a deal to bring William Carvalho to West Ham United, telling Record that Jose Mourinho even congratulated him when a big-money transfer appeared to be on the cards.
The mere mention of Carvalho is likely to send a shiver down the spine of everyone at the London Stadium. In the summer of 2017, barely a day went by without the Sporting Lisbon star being linked with a switch to the Premier League.
But, as Manchester United will tell you, Sporting do not make things easy in the boardroom.
And after months of protracted negotiations, and an offer which eventually reached as high as £32.5 million, West Ham were forced to drop their interest in a man who shot to fame with a series of dominant performances in Portugal’s Euro 2016 triumph.
Tried everything
“The way he played at the (2016) European Championships was incredible. I tried everything,” said Bilic, who is now coaching West Brom in the Championship.
“(But) it was obvious that he was not going to be cheap. (The Sporting) president decided not to proceed.”
Bilic adds that Mourinho, then of Manchester United, backed the pursuit of a powerhouse of a number six, calling Carvalho a ‘very good player’ when discussing the ill-fated deal with his West Ham counterpart.
Three years on, the now Real Betis ace could finally be on his way to England with Coliseo Verdiblanco claiming that Leicester City are in advanced negotiations to sign a man who could ease the burden on Wilfred Ndidi at the heart of Brendan Rodgers’ midfield.
Fortunately for the Foxes, Betis are likely to be a little more charitable than Sporting with Carvalho struggling to live up to lofty expectations during an injury-hit season in Spain.
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