His agent Rob Moore told skysports.com:
"I can confirm there was an interest from West Ham,"
"It is very sad that Porto are refusing to let him leave.
"For purely sporting reasons, he would like the chance to further his career in a better league, but now Porto have prevented him after two offers [Blackburn and West Ham].
"It really is a mystery as to why they are taking this stance with him."
Fans are aching for this to be the 'one' after the recent fiasco with Emmanuel Adebayor of Monaco whose deal was all but clinched when Monaco decided to pull the deal, just the most recent in a long line of striker targets who have fallen by the wayside as Alan Pardew looks for his big name striker.