West Ham United have once again been linked with a big bid for striker Anthony Modeste after his move to China fell through.
Modeste, who flopped during a spell at Blackburn, has thrived for Cologne in Germany scoring 25 goals in the Bundesliga last season.
Modeste, who is notoriously full of self-confidence bordering on arrogance, was close to agreeing a deal to move to China, with the club Tianjin Quanjian, but that collapsed last week.
Anthony Modeste goes head to head with Bayern and Chile star Vidal
And now the East Londoners – who are desperately searching for two quality strikers this summer – are said to have bid a club record £22million for the forward.
But they will be making a mistake signing him.
That’s according to former Hammers midfielder Don Hutchison, who is something of a Bundesliga expert as he has regularly worked as a pundit on the league since retiring from football.
Hutchison took to Twitter after reports emerged about the Modeste bid and did not pull any punches.
“West Ham in for Modeste so sorry West Ham fans but he isn’t for me,” Hutchison said accompanied by a head in hands emoji.
And when it was pointed out that Modeste was the third top scorer in the German top flight last season and West Ham perhaps aren’t in a position to be picky, Hutchison responded: “I’ve watched him for years not one season.
“I don’t care about price tags, I’ve never judged a player on “value” I’m not a big fan of his. #couldbewrongtho
“I would just look at a players ability to 1 bring people into game (touch), 2 attitude, 3 application, 3 athlete, 4 vision etc #notinthatorder.”
Modeste is sent off during his spell with Blackburn
It is a damning assessment from Hutchison, who knows the kind of players West Ham fans want to watch turn out in the claret and blue each week after two spells with the club.
Slaven Bilic has been linked with a host of strikers including Olivier Giroud, Kelechi Iheanacho and Michy Batshuayi.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
