West Ham missed out on signing Maxi Gomez and Michy Batshuayi on deadline day due to the pair's wage demands, according to reports.
It was a fairly quiet deadline day for West Ham fans with the club failing to add to their squad before the deadline passed, however they didn't go without trying.
A number of reports were linking the Hammers with moves for the likes of Olivier Giroud, Duvan Zapata and Andrea Belotti with the club desperate for a striker, but the only real news that came out of the London Stadium was that Marko Arnautovic's proposed move to China had fallen through and that the Austrian had signed a contract extension with the club.
There were two strikers West Ham were particularly keen on, but deals couldn't be agreed which meant Gomez remained at Celta Vigo whilst Batshuayi joined fellow Premier League side Crystal Palace on loan until the end of the season instead, but just how close were the Hammers to signing the duo?
According to Bleacher Report, it has now been revealed that West Ham were indeed happy to pay the £43m it would've taken to lure Gomez away from Celta Vigo, however David Gold was supposedly reluctant to conform to the Spaniard's £80,000-per-week wage request.
The same can also be said with the proposed deal for Batshuayi, with West Ham more than happy to hand over a £2m loan fee to Chelsea for the services of the 25-year-old, however they pulled out of negotiations when learning of the Belgian's £80,000-per-week wage at Chelsea.
It's believed Manuel Pellegrini is still confident on signing Gomez in the summer once they've freed up some space on their wage bill, however they're likely to face some stiff competition to win his signature. As for Batshuayi, his future is still up in the air with a number of clubs reportedly keeping a close eye on his developments whilst on loan at Palace.
Source : 90min