David Moyes claims West Ham were 'close' to signing Cole Palmer from Man City... hinting the move failed after deal for Lucas Paqueta in the other direction collapsed

David Moyes hinted West Ham could have signed Cole Palmer from Manchester City had the latter’s deal for Lucas Paqueta not collapsed last summer.

Palmer completed a £42.5million move to Chelsea, who play West Ham on Sunday, in September and the forward has been the standout player for Mauricio Pochettino’s side with 20 goals in 29 appearances.

But Palmer could instead have been playing his football in East London had things worked out differently.

City were interested in Paqueta at the same time Moyes was eyeing Palmer and the two clubs came close to reaching agreement, before the Brazilian’s move collapsed over the Football Association’s investigation into potential betting breaches.

Asked how near he got to agreeing a deal for Palmer, Moyes said: ‘Close.

‘You probably can imagine the other part of it, there was maybe a possibility of somebody leaving here which might have made that work.

‘I watched him playing for England U21s regularly and I thought he was a standout player. I’m always keen to bring in British players.

‘The bigger problem was he played in the same position as Jarrod Bowen as well. But I had the thought about Jarrod becoming a centre forward.

‘Lee Carsley, who was one of my ex players, the England U21 manager was also giving me lots of advice on their players but Cole especially. He spoke so highly about him and what he was like. We knew he could play several different positions and, let’s be fair, he’s been a revelation for Chelsea this year.

‘I was in regular contact with his agent, we were well on the road with it but it just changed at the end and we couldn’t do it.’

Asked whether it’s been painful to watch Palmer do so well for Chelsea this season, Moyes added: ‘No as managers you always have lots of near misses with players. You can probably think a few of who we were talking about signing in the summer which didn't come off and we could have gone in a different direction. It is always the same as a manager, lots of near misses.

‘He's been outstanding. He really has been. He’s probably in with a chance of winning player of the year he's been so good.’