West Ham news: Club chiefs lambasted by pundit after source’s ‘crazy’ £6m Duvan Zapata reveal
Alan Hutton has slammed West Ham for trying to push through a last-minute deal for Atalanta striker Duvan Zapata on deadline day.
Speaking exclusively to Football Insider, the former Scotland defender insisted the Hammers left it far too late to sign the 30-year-old.
A West Ham source told this site on Tuesday (1 February) the Irons offered a £5.5million loan fee and had agreed terms of an optional purchase clause for Zapata late on deadline day.
However, despite submitting a deal sheet to the Premier League, the paperwork could not be completed in time.
Hutton insisted the Irons should have got their business done well in advance of last night’s deadline.
Hutton told Football Insider’s Russell Edge: “It all seems a little bit desperate towards the end. I mean, with an hour or two to go they try and get Zapata.
“How you can even do that or think about doing that is beyond me. With all the paperwork that needs to be done, medicals, it’s very difficult.
“They have left it last minute and I genuinely don’t understand clubs who do this. You’ve had a whole month. Nothing happens for three and a half weeks and then (to try sign someone in) the last couple of days, it’s absolutely crazy.
“They’ve had all the time they need to try and get something over the line.
“Whether that’s down the financial situation and they’re waiting for the best deal possible, or maybe someone they had their eye on fell through earlier on, I don’t know.
“I just don’t understand why you’d wait to the last two hours to try and get a deal done. It’s never going to happen.”
West Ham did not make any senior signings during the January window.
Michail Antonio remains the only recognised senior striker on the Irons’ books.
In other news, West Ham move for Liverpool star revealed and pursuit is still alive.