West Ham co-chairman David Sullivan has revealed Carlos Tevez turned down their £150,000-a-week offer and is holding out for £250,000-a-week.
Tevez, 32, left West Ham to join Manchester United in 2007 and is currently plying his trade back with his boyhood club Boca Juniors in his native Argentina.
Slaven Bilic’s side are desperate to add a world class striker to their ranks ahead of the upcoming season and Sullivan has now revealed Tevez turned down the chance to become the best-paid player in the club’s history.
“All this business, ‘I love West Ham’, well it’s ‘I love West Ham if they give me £250,000-a-weel,” Sullivan told The Daily Mail. “So how much love is that for West Ham? I actually offered him £150,000-a-week to come back plus bonuses.
“I thought that was an incredible offer for someone who loves West Ham. And it was a huge gamble for us because he’s 33 now and hasn’t done it in South America. “We tried to get Tevez but he wanted £250,000-a-week – and is he past his best? He hasn’t set the world alight in South America.
“In his last year at Juventus he was great. But £250,000-a-week? He’ll probably stay where he is now, but he doesn’t pay a lot of tax down there. It wasn’t a publicity stunt, I saw him being our No.1 striker. I was hoping he would reproduce what he did at Juventus a year ago. He was a fantastic player. But where do you draw the line with what you are prepared to pay?
Tevez finished the first half of the Argentine Primera division as Boca’s top goalscorer, having scored four goals in 11 appearances. Furthermore, only Luis Rodriguez (66) has had more shots than Tevez (46).
For more stats on Carlos Tevez, click here to visit his WhoScored player page
