West Ham transfer news: David Moyes wanted 23 y/o gem; he joined EPL rivals for £19.5m | OneFootball

Journalist Tom Barclay said that West Ham were interested in signing Eberechi Eze prior to his move to Crystal Palace last summer.

Eze was a hot prospect following an outstanding season with Queens Park Rangers in the Championship, but eventually decided on South London rather than east, joining the Eagles in a £19.5m deal.

What happened with Eze last summer?

The 23-year-old was on the back of scoring 14 goals and chipping in with eight assists for Rangers and therefore had several Premier League admirers as he looked to make the step up to the top-flight.

Eze's form caught the eye of Tottenham, who were playing in the Champions League at the time under Jose Mourinho, although he was a boyhood Arsenal fan according to Sky Sports.

At this point, it looked like a battle between those across London, with Palace eventually coming out on top when Eze made the switch to Selhurst Park and became their third-most expensive signing at the time behind Mamadou Sakho and Christian Benteke.

Eze enjoyed a fine first season in the Premier League and was directly involved in 10 league goals, scoring four and assisting six before a freak training ground injury saw him miss the final two games and then the opening few months of 2021-2022.

Barclay, though, revealed that West Ham tried to sign the attacker prior to his move to Crystal Palace back in the summer of 2020.

What did Barclay say?

Talking about Eze's transfer to Palace, he said: "Other clubs were interested and I'm pretty sure West Ham were keen."

How did Eze compare to Said Benrahma last season?

It wasn't really a contest in truth. Eze took to the Premier League like a duck to water, establishing himself as a regular starter almost immediately, whilst Benrahma was in and out of David Moyes' side for the entire season and struggled for consistency.

In terms of stats, they both provided six assists, although Eze scored four times compared to just one from Benrahma, although the former Brentford man played more than 1,000 minutes fewer.

There were probably times last season where the Hammers faithful were probably wishing they'd chosen Eze, but Benrahma has come into his own this term and has already bettered his goal tally and is on course to top the six assists he registered, too.