Reported West Ham United target Duje Caleta-Car has admitted that the chance to play Champions League football with Marseille convinced him to reject a Premier League move over the summer, speaking to Le10 Sport.
The Hammers certainly didn’t sell Grady Diangana to raise funds for a Craig Dawson loan deal.
When the controversial exit of the club’s most exciting homegrown talent was confirmed, the only way to justify his permanent move to West Brom is that the £18 million windfall would be used to bring in a top-class centre-half.
By the time the window slammed shut on October 16th, however, the only new face was that of 30-year-old Dawson – a loanee relegated from the Premier League in two of the last three seasons.
Wesley Fofana joined Leicester City instead while a deals for Bayer Leverkusen’s Jonathan Tah and Burnley’s James Tarkowski proved too expensive.
As for Caleta-Car, well he wasn’t never going to turn down the chance to lead Marseille into the Champions League after seven years away from Europe’s elite.
“This summer I received a good offer from a Premier League club, which was interesting for me and for the club,” says the Croatian ahead of Tuesday’s trip to Manchester City.
“But I decided to stay here because it was my dream to play in the Champions League. I’m glad to be staying.”
West Ham made a £20 million bid for Caleta-Car, according to Sky.
But while the Hammers are flying high in the Premier League, they may need the lure of European football before they can sign players of this ilk.
West Ham’s record transfers
- Sebastien Haller
£45 million
- Felipe Anderson
£41.5 million
- Marko Arnautovic
£25 million
- Pablo Fornals
£24 million
- Issa Diop
£22 million
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