West Ham believed £45m Darwin Nunez transfer was ‘very close’ before Liverpool swooped

dailystar.co.uk:

West Ham United were reportedly very close to signing Darwin Nunez for a cut-price fee in January before Liverpool's club-record switch this summer.The free-scoring Uruguayan, 22, was unveiled as the Reds' latest acquisition on Tuesday (June 14) after putting pen to paper on a six-year deal.

Liverpool are believed to have paid an initial £64million fee to prise him away from Benfica but that figure could reach £85m - eclipsing the current £75m club-record deal for Virgil van Dijk - dependent on a range of bonuses.Upset by Sadio Mane's impending exit to Bayern Munich, the Merseysiders moved quickly to replace their Senegalese star in the biggest move of the summer window so far.

But had Benfica not qualified for the Champions League knockout stages last season, the forward might have been playing second fiddle to Michail Antonio.According to The Athletic, West Ham believed they were very close to securing a £45m deal for Nunez in January but Benfica's second-place finish in Group E meant the Primera Liga outfit were unwilling to part with their prized asset.The Portuguese giants anticipated Nunez's transfer fee could skyrocket if he performed well on Europe's biggest stage.

The Uruguayan then bagged once in their 3-2 aggregate win over Ajax before netting two in the 6-4 defeat to eventual runners-up Liverpool.HAVE YOUR SAY!