'Apparently...' - Ex claims West Ham were quoted 'ridiculous' £85m for 26 y/o

Insider ExWHUemployee has revealed that West Ham United have a remaining interest in Ollie Watkins despite his ‘ridiculous’ price tag. 

It’s widely understood that the Hammers wanted a striker in the January transfer market. Indeed, it has been reported that they would have signed Atalanta forward Duvan Zapata only for the deal to fall through at the last moment.

Having not bought in the attacker, it seems they are likely to return to the market this summer for a similar target. And so, Ex has explained that David Moyes has an ‘interest’ in the Aston Villa forward.

Speaking on The West Ham Way podcast, the presenter revealed that West Ham had inquired about Watkins’ in the winter as well but had been put off by his high valuation.

Ex said: (54:00): “Moyes likes Ollie Watkins, the forward at Aston Villa, but apparently, when we made a tentative inquiry about him in January, we were quoted ridiculous figures.

“They were was saying: ‘If Declan Rice is £150m we want £85m’. Or something. So we were completely priced out the market for Ollie Watkins, but the manager does have an interest in him.”

TIF thoughts on Ollie Watkins and West Ham..

As things stand, Michail Antonio is the only natural senior centre-forward option West Ham have at the club. With that in mind, it’s easy to see why Moyes is keen on adding some proven depth to that role.

The Jamaican international has scored eight goals in the Premier League this term for the Irons, while Watkins has netted nine times in England’s top flight.

Considering Villa paid a reported £28m to Brentford to sign their striker in the summer window of 2020, it’s no surprise they want to turn a tidy profit on the goalscorer.

However, if they are to stick to that £85m price tag quoted by