Eventually signing Gianluca Scamacca to bolster their attack, West Ham United started the summer off with a rather different profile in mind.
That man, according to numerous reports from Spain, was Youssef En-Nesyri; a player the Hammers have supposedly been after for quite some time.
Linked with the Morocco international since at least January 2021, West Ham are said to have tried then, the following summer and in June of this year to sign the Sevilla striker, who has never really felt close to moving.
While David Moyes’ side were reportedly ready to offer more than €40m back in June of last year for En-Nesyri, that wasn’t the case this time around.
However, ‘the economic needs of the club’ and the number of signings made by Premier League sides, who paid ‘millions for footballers who were not worth that much’, pushed those in charge of the La Liga side to ‘make this decision’.
West Ham aren’t directly mentioned in this article, but it’s made clear that ‘none of the possible interested parties offered’ the €40m Sevilla were expecting, leaving any contact for En-Nesyri starting from a point below the €20m that were paid to Leganes back in 2020.
Therefore, it appears the requests made by the Spaniards put off everyone, among which were the Hammers, at least back in June.
En-Nesyri has yet to find the back of the net in four La Liga appearances this season (one start), as Sevilla have picked up one point from a possible 12.