West Ham United have failed in their attempts to bring Duje Caleta-Car to the London Stadium in the January transfer window.

What’s the talk?

That’s according to a recent claim made by Claret & Hugh, with the West Ham insider revealing in a recent post that, despite David Moyes’ side’s continued attempts to find an agreement with Olympique de Marseille regarding a deal for the centre-back, sources on both sides of the transfer have stated that a compromise between the two clubs does not look likely to be reached.

It is reported that the Hammers are looking to take the 25-year-old on a loan to buy deal, while Marseille are only willing to part with the Croatia international for an up front fee of £15m.

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In their post, Claret & Hugh said: “West Ham are believed to have finally missed out on signing Croatian central defender Duje Caleta-Car. The Hammers have been chasing the player for several weeks and are likely to continue doing so up until the end of the window.

“But Claret & Hugh’s information from both sides of the deal is that Marseille are unwilling to do a loan to buy option and continue to insist on a £15 million permanent deal. The Hammers have made it clear they have no interest in such a deal at this point and want to take a look at the player over the remainder of the season.

“We are planning to pursue things until the end of the window but Marseille sources insist no deal other than a permanent switch is considered suitable.”

Moyes can kiss top four goodbye

With West Ham’s absolute priority targets in the January transfer window having been a new centre-forward and a new centre-back – neither of which Moyes has managed to land – the news that the Premier League side are set to miss out on a defender they have been pursuing for a large portion of the current market is sure to have left Hammers fans livid with their club’s strategy this winter.

Indeed, with a little under 36 hours until the transfer window closes on Monday evening, each hour that passes from now on looks to reduce the club’s likelihood of bringing a new centre-back to the London Stadium this winter – meaning the stalemate with Marseille regarding a deal for Caleta-Car appears to have been extremely important time wasted.

And, with the Hammers pushing for a top-four finish in the league this season, should Moyes indeed fail to bring in both a new centre-back and centre-forward this month, the Scot may as well kiss goodbye to the prospect of Champions League football next season now – as the 58-year-old’s squad simply does not have enough strength in depth to maintain a top-four push in its current state.

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