In a rare lowering of his guard on transfers David Moyes has shared his deep regret at West Ham missing out on an Aston Villa star.
Aston Villa are looking to not only emulate West Ham but go one better this season.
Like Aston Villa are now, the Hammers have been pushing the Premier League elite in three of the last four seasons.
And the Hammers have tasted glory by winning the Europa Conference League.
That’s something Aston Villa are also looking to replicate this season.
West Ham are knocking on the door for a fourth successive season of European football.
And Villa are having a phenomenal season under Unai Emery. The Villans sit fourth in the Premier League on 59 points – three places and 14 points above West Ham.
West Ham a striker light for Champions League push
They are on course to qualify for the Champions League – just as West Ham were at this stage in both the 2020-21 and 2021-22 seasons.
Indeed the Hammers finished agonisingly short of the top four by a solitary win in 2021.
On paper West Ham and Villa both have an excellent first XI but not a great deal of strength in depth.
It’s difficult to say whether signing a striker would have made the difference for West Ham between their current position and a top five push this season.
But there is a nagging sense that the right one certainly would have. And that West Ham might be where Villa are right now had they pushed to find a successor to ageing Michail Antonio.
Well it seems they very nearly did only for him to end up at Villa Park.
Now David Moyes has shared his deep regret at West Ham missing out on Aston Villa star.
Moyes shares deep regret at missing out on Villa star
The manager was asked why he has not found an heir to 34-year-old Antonio as he plays his 300th game for West Ham.
Moyes says he has tried and his biggest regret on that front is not getting Ollie Watkins.
West Ham fans who follow the transfer windows closely may remember the Hammers were linked with Watkins before he signed for Villa and again when Steven Gerrard was in charge.
It’s hard to know what to believe when it comes to transfer gossip.
But the Scot has conceded England striker Watkins was one that got away for the Hammers.
“We’ve tried for years to find people that we believed might be right,” Moyes told the press on Friday, as reported by The Evening Standard.
“If you look back over the last two or three years at the number of centre-forwards named (as targets) that might be coming here, there might be quite a lot of them that have failed and they wouldn’t have been any good.
‘We’ve missed out on ones we would’ve liked’
“We’ve missed out on ones we would’ve like when you look back, maybe Ollie Watkins, people like that. But it’s a journey, sometimes you get it right and sometimes you don’t.”
It’s not the first time Moyes has highlighted that he wanted Watkins at West Ham.
After a 4-1 defeat to Villa earlier this season – a game in which Watkins scored – Moyes made mention of the fact.
“Yeah, we did (make a move for Watkins) when he was at Brentford,” Moyes said in his post-match presser – as reported by Birmingham World.
“He scored a good goal today.”
Watkins up front in this Hammers side is a mouthwatering prospect
Just imagine this West Ham side with Watkins leading the line instead of Antonio.
With Lucas Paqueta, Mohammed Kudus and Jarrod Bowen around him. A mouthwatering prospect which might’ve been.
As great a servant as Antonio has been, Watkins would have taken West Ham’s play to a completely different – and ruthless – level.
West Ham have surrendered 14 points in the last three months alone from games they should have won or drawn.
So it’s not unreasonable at all to suggest having a Watkins would have propelled the Hammers up into challenging for the Champions League.