Report: West Ham baulked at Stoke’s £30m Joe Allen price-tag in January

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West Ham United are renewing their interest in Joe Allen this summer after Premier League rivals Stoke City demanded a huge fee in January.

West Ham United are set to make another move to sign Stoke City midfielder Joe Allen this summer, according to The Mail (22^nd April, page 79).

Paul Lambert’s Stoke look set to bring an end to their 10-year spell in the Premier League this season with the 1-1 draw against Burnley on Sunday meaning The Potters are now four points from safety with just three games remaining.

And the vultures are already circling with a number of players in Stoke’s squad surely too good for the Championship. One of those is most definitely Allen, the Welsh international midfielder who has been a shining light in a dreadful campaign at the Bet 365 Stadium.

West Ham manager David Moyes is a big fan of the former Swansea City and Liverpool man and had hoped to bring him to the London Stadium in January with a hard-working, box-to-box midfielder understood to be right at the top of his shopping list.

But The Mail reports that West Ham baulked at Stoke’s fee of £30 million.

West Ham co-owner David Sullivan stated that they were prepared to pay a huge fee to sign Allen in January, claiming that the club had made a bid equalling the club-record £24 million they paid Stoke to sign Marko Arnautovic last summer.

But it seems that West Ham are hoping to nab Allen on the cheap this summer if Stoke fail to pull off a great escape of epic proportions, The Mail claiming that they are planning a £40 million double bid for him and goalkeeper Jack Butland.