West Ham boss Slaven Bilic has spoken of their forlorn pursuit of AC Milan striker Carlos Bacca.
Speaking with MilanNews.it, Bilic detailed the on-off move for the Colombian.
"At first there were possibilities and I have no problem admitting it. In this market session we tried raising the bar trying to buy players who a few years ago would have been unthinkable for our club. But as we have shown with the new stadium and the training centre we intend to grow as a club. With some players it was 'normal' to be on our list where they wouldn't be 2-3 years ago.
"So, on our list were Lacazette, Zaza, Bacca and Batshuayi. But I knew it would be difficult to buy them. In September last year we wanted Zaza but Juventus had no intention to sell him, then we laid eyes on Lacazette and then Bacca.
"But we were not the first choice of the Colombian. He waited for Arsenal and Atletico Madrid and then finally decided to stay at Milan, but we are very happy because we bought Zaza who a year ago was our first choice."
