West Ham United may have missed out on signing Sporting midfielder Matheus Nunes, as confirmed by manager David Moyes last week, but it still doesn’t mean they’ve forgotten about the player.
Portuguese newspaper A Bola today writes that despite the failed effort to land the 24-year-old, the Hammers went to watch him in the weekend match against Rio Ave.
It’s said West Ham had already sent a scout to see the player in the league’s opening round against Braga, and now did it again. This time, they saw Nunes scoring a great goal, a strike which has generated excitement among fans.
A Bola is sure that the Hammers will return for Nunes. Before the London side make a new bid to Sporting, they are set to try to convince the player, who was ‘not excited’ by that first approach, as he’d like a club who are playing in the Champions League and can fight for titles.
West Ham’s first bid was reportedly worth €30m plus €5m in bonuses, and the Lions are said to be demanding demanding €50m for the sale.
Following the game, Sporting manager Ruben Amorim spoke to the local press about the situation, and said: “Nowadays no one signs players for scoring goals or not. He has his quality. I emphasise the words of the West Ham coach, who said that the boy refused. It’s a great sign for Sporting, that’s the best thing for me. There were phases when Sporting players were dying to leave, now they have proposals that change their lives and they want to stay. He knows well what he wants, I also know what I want from him. Now, it’s closing the market.”
