George Overhill

Sat 26 February 2022 9:45, UK

West Ham were alone in negotiating with Luis Diaz over a January transfer and were “far down the line” in making it happen, according to David Moyes.

The Colombian subsequently moved to Liverpool for £37million plus add-ons and the Hammers failed to secure any signings during the transfer window.

This is just the latest big-money deal that did not come off, after bids for Darwin Nunez, Raphinha and Kalvin Phillips were all unsuccessful despite considerable money being available to spend.

Speaking in advance of the Irons’ match with Wolves on Sunday Moyes said, via The Athletic: “I spoke with Luis Diaz on the phone and we were quite far down the line to sign him from Porto.

“My understanding is Liverpool were going to come in for him in the summer, and I was going to try and get him in January.

“I don’t know if us trying to get him in January affected Liverpool’s decision but he’s a really good player. We didn’t get him in but our ambition to sign the best players to improve West Ham is good.

“I really don’t know but I had a period where I thought we were on our own. We spoke with the agent in London and got it moving.

“Then other clubs came onto it. The club were ready to make offers for the correct players and sadly we didn’t quite get there.”

Words not actions

The events of the January transfer window continue to get more frustrating for fans desperate for the squad to be strengthened.

The manager talks a good game about his dealings last month but for all the results achieved he could have just ignored it completely.

Moyes keeps talking as if simply being in the conversation as a major force in the market is an achievement, which has to be grating on supporters.

He praised the three “record bids” that failed (Yorkshire Evening Post), reportedly talked about his “£100million” January budget with sixth-tier Kidderminster (Knees Up Mother Brown), and now is extolling his involvement with one of the month’s highlight deals who is now impressing elsewhere.

At this point, he is in danger of emulating Arsene Wenger, who became a running joke during his years at Arsenal for discussing all the superstars he almost signed while fans watched them excel at other clubs.

The Scot’s well-known stance about not wanting to spend for the sake of it of course makes sense but it is starting to feel like an excuse.

It is true that January can be a difficult time to secure value in the market, but it is not impossible, and the squad would have benefited.

The loss of form for Michail Antonio among others has highlighted how important it was for some backup to finally be brought in.

If it had simply been a frustrating window where deals fell through that would be one thing.

But having plenty to say but nothing to show as the team slips out of Champions League contention is a quick way to wind up frustrated fans.

In other West Ham news, our West Ham Women expert previews Sunday’s FA Cup clash.

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