La Liga forward no closer to Premier League move after big money bid turned down (Video)

Spanish side Sevilla have turned down a £14.5m offer from West Ham for Alvaro Negredo on the same day that they almost concluded the £17m deal to sell Jesus Navas to Manchester City. Was this just a case of the Hammers being unlucky, as the Andalucians had already agreed to part with one of their star players and therefore didn't want to lose another so quickly, or were they aiming too high by even attempting to capture such a player?

The answer is that they were aiming way too high with this attempt and it wasn't surprising that Negredo had no interest in moving to Upton Park. The Premier League has started to attract a lot of the better Spanish players to English shores over the past five years, but nearly all of them sign for the biggest clubs in the country, not for a team that only has mid-table aspirations. Negredo is an international player and has six goals from 14 appearances, including a Euro 2012 winner's medal. His goals per game ratio over the past six years, for both Almeria and Sevilla, is almost a goal every two games, which is a very tidy return and has seen him coveted by many European clubs. What would he gain by lining up in Sam Allardyce's side?

One thing that does now seem certain though is that Andy Carroll's proposed move from Liverpool on a permanent basis is dead in the water. It is hard to imagine the Hammers spending £30m on linking these two strikers together and maybe they decided to look for a more regular goalscorer than the Geordie, albeit with the physical capabilities of handling the English style of football. At least they still have plenty of time to continue their search, or try and convince Carroll to take a wage cut!

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Comments

[hammermad]

The Negredo offer was made in January, but why let a good story get in the way of truth