David Moyes has revealed just how close he came to signing Cole Palmer last summer - and hinted that the collapse of Lucas Paqueta’s move to Manchester City played a part in West Ham missing out on the England star.

West Ham were in talks to sign Palmer when it became clear he was on his way out of City during last year’s window, but eventually missed out to Chelsea, where the 21-year-old has since excelled, scoring 20 Premier League goals this term.

Around the same time, City were closing on an £80million deal for Paqueta, only to pull out when news broke that the FA were investigating the midfielder over potential betting breaches.

Moyes takes his West Ham side to Stamford Bridge on Sunday, where Palmer is now established as the main man, but confirmed things could have gone in a very different direction last summer.

“[We were] close, close,” Moyes said. “You can probably imagine the other part of it, where there was a possibility of somebody leaving here which might have made that work.

“I was in regular contact with his agent and we were well on the road with it but it just changed at the end and we couldn’t do it.”

Palmer had established himself as one of English football’s most exciting young prospects during a gradual emergence at City, but informed Pep Guardiola last summer that he was keen to move on to play regular first-team football.

Even so, the extent of his breakthrough this term has been unexpected, with the winger currently just one shy of Erling Haaland’s tally in the race for the Golden Boot and firmly in contention to make Gareth Southgate’s Euro 2024 squad, with Hammers star Jarrod Bowen, ironically, among his main rivals.

“I watched him playing for England U21s regularly and I thought he was their standout player,” Moyes added. “I was always keen to bring in British players.

“The bigger problem was that he played in the same position as Jarrod Bowen but I had the thought about Jarrod becoming a centre-forward.

“Lee Carsley, who was one of my ex-players [at Everton] as well and the England U21 manager, was always giving me advice on their players and Cole especially.

“He spoke so highly about him and what he was like. We knew he could play several positions and let’s be fair, he’s been a revelation this year for Chelsea.”