AC Milan and Colombia forward Carlos Bacca has revealed the reason for rejecting a £26 million move to London to join up with the Hammers this summer, despite confirming that the offer from the club was “very good”. Bacca said that his decision to turn down the transfer was because of his family, saying:
I thought about my family, about how we would fit and problems that a South American soccer player can have in terms of the non-EU passport.
This claim seems an odd one, given the number of non-EU players in the Premier League and the lack of restrictions on the number of players allowed per squad that exist in countries like Spain. Slaven Bilic has claimed that the player preferred a potential move to Arsenal, whilst other sources reported that he wanted to be playing Champions League football which the Hammers cannot offer.
Whilst the truth may never be known, at least there now seems to be an end to the saga which continued throughout the summer as rumours continued to resurface regarding the move.
Dimitri Payet has also spoken out, following claims from Watford’s Troy Deeney that the skills and ‘showboating’ exhibited by the darling of The London Stadium was disrespectful to his Watford side and inspired them to come back from 2-0 down to win 4-2 in the clash at the London Stadium on Saturday. The French midfielder insisted that Deeney misinterpreted the actions of him and his teammates, saying:
It was something that came instinctively to me at that time in the game.
It was Payet’s rabona cross which set up Michail Antonio to score his; and West Ham’s, second goal of the game with a diving header, but this side of his game is nothing new. Payet frequently produces such tricks and moves to bamboozle defences, and whilst Deeney may have seen it as disrepectful, it clearly was not intended in that way as it is a move that Payet would have made whether they were up against Watford or Manchester City.
Former forward Enner Valencia, who joined Everton late into the transfer window, has also spoken to the press following his move away from London. Valencia’s signing was questioned by many Toffees fans given the fact that he scored just eight goals in two seasons at Upton Park, but the Ecuadorian international has attributed his poor form to manager Slaven Bilic, accusing him of poor training and playing him out of position. He told Everton TV:
I have enjoyed training with my new team-mates, it’s different to my last team – it is a little bit harder… The best performances of my career have come as a striker. Last year at West Ham I was used to playing as a winger which was difficult for me because it is not the position I feel well in.
West Ham were just glad to cash in on the forward, who found himself way down the pecking order after the arrivals of Simone Zaza, Andre Ayew and Jonathan Calleri, and were glad to recoup some of the money they paid out for him just two years ago.
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