Inter Milan midfielder Piotr Zielinski has confirmed he could have joined West Ham in the summer of 2022.
The Polish international was at Napoli at the time and he says the club president had accepted a €35m (£30m) offer but he chose to remain with the Serie A side:
“Aurelio De Laurentiis was already convinced about the offer of 35 million [euros]. [West Ham] were already looking for medical care for my wife and children and a place to live.”
“Coach [Liciano] Spalletti called me once and asked me what I would do. And I replied that I would prefer to stay and fight for the title. He told me he wanted me to stay. I stayed because I didn’t feel like I [wanted to move to] London either.”
Zielinski also said that a move to another English club failed to materialise
Even before he joined Napoli, Zielinski was the subject of a bid from Liverpool and the midfielder has revealed he met manager Jurgen Klopp, who compared him to [former Arsenal and Chelsea star] Cesc Fabregas and Manchester City player Ilkay Gundogan:
“Jurgen Klopp invited me to his house. Liverpool sent a private jet to pick me up. When we landed, we took the bus to go to Klopp’s. The conversation was great. Klopp told me that I was a mix between Fabregas and Gundogan in his opinion.”
Who did West Ham sign instead of Zielinski?
Fans will point out that the Irons didn’t end up regretting the failure to sign the Pole, considering that they bought Lucas Paqueta from Lyon instead.
They are arguably pretty different players but it is fair to say that the London club will be delighted with the business they did in securing the Brazilian international’s signature.
Paqueta could potentially have been sold to Manchester City for £85m if the betting investigation hadn’t got in the way of the deal.
Find out who is in West Ham’s first-team squad for the 2024/2025 season here