West Ham have been trying to convince AC Milan forward Carlos Bacca to move to the Premier League since last summer but he’s returned to La Liga instead.
How Javier Hernandez adapts on his return to English football with West Ham United could be make or break for the London club’s season.
With Andy Carroll and Diafra Sakho spending more time on the treatment table than the football pitch, the former Manchester United favourite will be relied upon to fire The Hammers into Europa League contention this season, or a top half finish at the very least.
However, after enduring arguably the most inconsistent season of his European career with Bayer Leverkusen in 2016/17, going 16 games without a goal between October and January, Hernandez arrives with some wondering whether his best days are behind him.
Therefore, an alternative centre-forward wouldn’t go amiss at West Ham, particularly after a 4-0 opening day battering at Old Trafford featured a grand total of one shot on target by Slaven Bilic’s side.
As such, you wonder whether West Ham should have done more to convince Carlos Bacca to finally make the move to the London Stadium. The Mirror reported that The Hammers were desperate to bring the Colombian speedster to the Premier League from AC Milan, agreeing a £26 million deal last summer only for the striker to reject the move.
On that got away?
The same report claimed that West Ham were keen to renew their interest last January but Bacca remained at the San Siro for the rest of the season despite a high-profile fall-out with manager Vincenzo Montella.
And, on Wednesday afternoon, Football Espana reported that the former Sevilla frontman had returned to La Liga with Villarreal in one of the bargains of the summer. Bacca will spend next season on loan at the Castellon club with an option to buy for just £14 million.
Scoring 65 goals in the last four seasons for Sevilla and Milan, plus winning two Europa Leagues with the former, Bacca is a proven goalscorer at the top of the European game. And West Ham may be wishing they had finally got their man for a knockdown fee.
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