West Ham will have regrets as Marc Roca is lined up by Arsenal

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Arsenal are reportedly in the hunt for Espanyol midfielder Marc Roca. SPORT is reporting that Mikel Arteta is hunting the midfielder who has shone for the Catalan side, despite their La Liga struggles. 

A £35 million bid will reportedly be enough to sign a player who has been compared to Barcelona legend-in-waiting Sergio Busquets by his team-mate Victor Sanchez (El Pais) and, himself (Barcelona News Club). 

If he does make the move to The Emirates, West Ham United will undoubtedly be left kicking themselves. 

In January last year, the Hammers reportedly made an enquiry regarding the services of Roca. West Ham, at the time, were managed by Manuel Pellegrini and Mario Husillios was the club’s sporting director. The pair had good connections and scouting networks in Spain, where Roca has clearly crossed their collective path. 

But no deal happened. As reported by SPORT, West Ham were unwilling to pay the €40 million (£35m) release clause to sign the midfield talent.

Roca has since gone on to become one of Espanyol’s only shining lights this season, as well as helping Spain under-21s win the European Under-21 Championships in the summer. 

West Ham have since moved on, with Tomas Soucek arriving this January under entirely different management. 

But if Roca goes on to live up to his Busquets billing at Arsenal, West Ham fans will undoubtedly feel like they are missing out.