West Ham United made huge error after low-balling Napoli in Piotr Zielinski offer
West Ham United attempted to sign Napoli midfielder Piotr Zielinski in the summer but no offer was made big enough for them to accept.
The Polish international was open to both leaving and staying in Naples with the London Stadium looking like his most likely exit route from the Diego Armando Maradona Stadium.
But journalist Ciro Venerato has now revealed that West Ham only made an offer worth 50 per cent of the price Napoli had put on him and they opted to pull the plug on a sale as a result.
“The hottest renewal? Surely that of Piotr Zielinski,” he said, as quoted by Area Napoli. “Napoli had thought of selling the midfielder, but the English team that he wanted it (West Ham) only offered 50% of what De Laurentiis wanted.
“Napoli, having taken note of the low offer of the English club, consequently decided not to sell Piotr Zielinski.”
Having missed out on Zielinski, David Moyes and West Ham opted to make a big-money move for Lucas Paqueta which has been vindicated so far but it looks like they missed a big chance with the Pole.
He has been an integral part of the Napoli side which currently has three wins from three games in the Champions League, scoring 13 goals in the process with three of those coming from the 28-year-old.
He’s also bagged four assists and a goal in Serie A so far this season as Luciano Spaletti’s side top the Italian top flight with the Pole at the centre.
Given his outstanding form against some very good opponents in the Champions League, Moyes surely can’t help but think a better opening offer might have been enough to see him star in claret and blue.
He and Paqueta could have created something magical in front of Declan Rice but it will always remain a case of ‘What if?’