West Ham are surely wincing as midfielder enjoys cult hero status at Crystal Palace

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West Ham United get linked with a lot of players every year and sometimes it transpires that targets they miss out on go on to excel at other clubs.

That is certainly the case with Luka Milivojevic of Crystal Palace.

The Eagles landed the Serbia international in 2017 from Olympiacos in an £11 million deal, as reported by The Daily Mail, and since joining the midfielder has been a hit with the club’s supporters.

It’s been a great couple of years for Milivojevic, who was swiftly made captain of the club and assigned penalty-taking duties.

He is viewed as something of a cult hero by Palace supporters, who adore him for his reliability in the middle of the park and leadership qualities.

TBR’s view

Before Milivojevic made his move to Palace official though, The Daily Mail produced a report that stated the player had been ‘discussed’ by the Hammers.

There were never any subsequent reports of an official bid from the Irons, with Palace seemingly securing a hassle-free transfer.

Over two years down the line, Milivojevic is flourishing at Selhurst Park and is the exact kind of player West Ham are crying out for.

He is strong, aggressive, good on the ball and extremely reliable from dead ball scenarios. He has an impressive record of 24 goals and four assists in 90 appearances for Palace so far, with a large majority of those strikes coming from the penalty spot.

The Hammers do have Declan Rice now and Mark Noble has served the club well as captain, but who knows how the team might have fared had they tried to rival Palace for Milivojevic.