According to Corriere della Serra, West Ham had a bid rejected for Real Betis’ Loren Moron a few months ago.

What’s the story?

Moron has been in good form for the Seville-based outfit so far this campaign – in 16 starts, he has managed nine goals, making him the club’s top goalscorer in the process as they struggle at the wrong end of the La Liga table.

Watch West Ham United Videos With StreamFootball.tv Below

It seems that the Hammers were interested in taking him to the London Stadium at some point this season, and even made a bid of €25m (£22.1m), but that was rejected as Betis want at least €40m (£35.5m).

Lucky escape

This season, Moron has been an important member of Betis’ team. However, he is already 26 years old, meaning he is bursting on to the scene quite late – this is just his third full season in the top flight, having previously played for the team’s B side.

With nine goals, this is by far his best season for Betis, even if he did manage seven in 15 La Liga appearances during the 2017/18 season. As a centre-forward, he doesn’t really have a track record that is any better, or even comparable, to that of Sebastien Haller.

The Hammers may have expected more for the club record £45m they spent on the Frenchman last year, but seven goals in 26 matches is far from an embarrassing total. In the past, though, he has proven himself to be adept at finding the back of the net – last term, he managed 20 goals and 12 assists in all competitions at Eintracht Frankfurt, whilst he scored at least 10 times in all of his seasons with FC Utrecht in the Eredivisie.

Spending £22.1m on Moron, then, would have made very little sense – Haller is even a year younger at 25. In the end, it looks as though the Irons have had a lucky escape.

Meanwhile, this West Ham interest directly contradicts ExWHUemployee’s transfer claim.