Celta Vigo president Carlos Mourino has said the Spanish side expect any interested club to meet Maxi Gomez’s release clause.

Reports had claimed that West Ham had an offer accepted for the Uruguayan international, but speaking about the striker’s future, Mourino dismissed those reports by stating:

“We aren’t going to give Maxi away, and teams who want him need to start paying attention to the clause. From there, we can negotiate as equals, not with one party who consider themselves superior to the other.”

Gomez’s release clause is reportedly €50m (£44.5m); a figure that has not been matched by any team so far.

The Hammers were initially in negotiations to sign both the Uruguayan and his teammate Stanislav Lobotka, but talks reached an impasse after the two sides failed to agree a fee for the Slovakian.

Instead, West Ham were believed to be in negotiations to sign Gomez separately, but it appears that no deal is close to being agreed.

The forward scored 13 goals for Celta last season and is a player in high demand with the likes of Valencia, Arsenal and Barcelona all said to be interested.