When a player rejects the chance to sign for your club, it’s usually advisable not to take the snub personally.
Perhaps he just felt the time wasn’t right. Maybe he was worried about the team’s precarious position in the league table.
Speaking to the Daily Star (5 July 2020, page 47), Josh Brownhill admitted he turned down West Ham United 14 months ago in favour of Burnley.
And his logic at the time, in fairness, was sound.
At the time Burnley were 11th in the table, flying high and pushing for a top-half finish. West Ham, meanwhile, were mired in the relegation zone just a few points above bottom-place Norwich.
“My heart was set on Burnley,” the former Bristol City dynamo said. “I knew it was the right place.
“West Ham is a big club as well but, in January, Burnley were a lot safer in the table. For me, it was about being in the Premier League and Burnley ticked every box.”
If West Ham’s 2019/20 season had been as impressive as 2020/21, Brownhill may already be plying his trade under David Moyes.
A year on, the Hammers are closer to the Champions League places than they are mid-table Arsenal, sitting sixth and enjoying their finest top-flight campaign since the mid-1980s.
According to TEAMtalk, West Ham are rivalling Aston Villa, Crystal Palace, Southampton and Wolverhampton Wanderers to sign Brownhill in the summer transfer window.
But if we presume the 25-year-old would be tempted by the chance to join West Ham at the second time of asking, how do fans feel about the prospect of signing a player who turned them down in 2020?
Here’s what some West Ham fans had to say on Twitter. The phrase ‘forgive and forget’ springs to mind:
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