David Moyes reveals West Ham transfer interest in Premier League star striker who cost £28m

West Ham previously attempted to sign Ollie Watkins while he was at Brentford, Hammers boss David Moyes revealed in the wake of Sunday’s 4-1 loss to Aston Villa.

The Irons were taken apart by Villa on Sunday afternoon - with Watkins being among the goalscorers. Douglas Luiz also scored a brace, with Leon Bailey scoring the hosts’ final goal of the outing - West Ham’s only strike of the day was netted by Jarrod Bowen. Following the game, Watkins’ performance was praised by Moyes.

Watkins has five goals to his name so far this season in the Premier League, as well as five assists - he has burst into life under the tutelage of Unai Emery at Villa Park. Watkins signed for Villa from Brentford in September of 2020 for a then-club record fee of £33 million - since then, the Torquay native has scored 44 Premier League goals in 116 games for Villa.

However, things could have been different if the Hammers got their way, as they made an offer for the player while he was still playing for Brentford. While West Ham’s retrospective interest in the player is certainly evident, his market value has drastically increased since then - which would make a potential move in any future transfer windows much more complex to pull off.

What did David Moyes say when asked about Ollie Watkins?

Speaking after Sunday’s defeat, Moyes revealed the Hammers’ previous transfer hope regarding Watkins [via BirminghamWorld]: “Yeah, we did [make a move for Watkins] when he was at Brentford. He scored a good goal today.”

He continued: “Aston Villa are probably just behind the top three or four big names in the Premier League. It was a big challenge to see what level we were at and we fell below. We should’ve given them as close of a game as we did Newcastle. Villa are one of the teams on the tails of the teams above them.”