OPINION
West Ham’s confidence in their pursuit of Brazilian attacker Bernard appears to have been misplaced as he is reportedly poised to join Premier League rivals Everton.
The Daily Mail claim that the Hammers were confident at the end of last week about successfully signing the 25-year-old left-winger but as they had several attacking players with flair that left them unable to make it clear to him on what his role in the team would be.
The British newspaper state that following Toffees manager Marco Silva’s personally interfering in negotiations for his side that Bernard is on the brink of having a move to Goodison Park confirmed.
The pacey winger, who can excel on either flank, was available to be snapped up on a free transfer this summer due to his Shakhtar Donestsk contract expiring at the end of the 2017/18 campaign.
Bernard would have been a fantastic signing for the Hammers and fans of Manuel Pellegrini’s side will no doubt be thinking what if when he likely plays for the Toffees next season.
The 25-year-old has blistering pace and dazzling dribbling ability which will see him able to take the Premier League by storm if he settles in at England.
However the one silver lining to the Hammers’ being wrong about being confident about signing the player is at least they’re not taking a big financial gamble by recruiting his services.
As while the attacker was available on a free transfer the pocket rocket was thought to be looking for a lucrative contract that saw him earn in the region of £100,000-a-week.
The Guardian previously reported at the start of the summer that the Bernard searched for a £200,000-a-week deal but reliable Hammers insider ExWHUEmployee shared a few days ago on Twitter that the player had halved his wage demand.
Bernard talks still progressing: a number of clubs have lodged bids! He has almost halved his expected wage but Chinese clubs are still prepared to offer lots
— ExWHUEmployee (@ExWHUEmployee) August 4, 2018
While that may be the one positive to take from the Hammers’ alleged failure in their pursuit of the Brazilian attacker, one thing is certain and that is that the London club were wrong to be confident about securing the player’s services.
