Benfica striker Darwin Nunez would have turned down a £50 million move to West Ham United because he wants to play Champions League football, according to The Athletic.
While Davids Gold and Sullivan have been criticised in the past for a lack of ambition in the transfer market – who could forget the furious reaction that greeted Grady Diangana’s departure in 2020? – no one could say that the West Ham owners did not at least try to reinforce David Moyes’ squad in the January transfer window.
According to The Guardian and The Athletic, West Ham made a trio of £50 million bids before Monday’s 11pm deadline.
Though Neither Raphinha nor Kalvin Phillips were likely to swap Elland Road for the London Stadium.
Leeds may have pulled clear of the relegation zone in recent weeks. But selling arguably their two most important players midway through the season felt like tempting fate. A high-risk, no-reward strategy.
Furthermore, when the time comes for Raphinha and Phillips to ride off into the sunset, one assumes they will be aiming higher than a club who, despite making huge progress during Moyes’ second spell, cannot yet be described as an established top-six Premier League club.
Why did Darwin Nunez stay at Benfica?
According to The Athletic, Uruguay international Nunez wasn’t overly enamoured by the prospect of joining West Ham either.
The Hammers failed with a £50 million bid on deadline day.
Even if Benfica had accepted their offer, Nunez would have turned down the move anyway.
The £70 million-rated centre-forward, described by former Benfica coach Jorge Jesus as a ‘world-class player’ in the making, will only leave the Estadio da Luz for a club plying their trade in the Champions League.
Scoring 20 goals in 25 games, Nunez certainly won’t be short of offers when the window opens again. Manchester City, for one, may be in the market for a new number nine. So will Real Madrid and Barcelona.
As for West Ham, their failure to lure Nunez away from the Portuguese capital means Moyes and co are approaching the final four months of the season with just one centre-forward at their disposal.
A centre-forward, in Michail Antonio, with a history of injury problems.
Are West Ham a hamstring twinge away from disaster?
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