Former Celta Vigo striker Maxi Gomez has revealed why he didn’t sign for West Ham in the summer.

Gomez was heavily linked with a move to West Ham but he opted for Valencia instead.

Speaking to The Guardian, the highly-rated forward revealed that he chose Valencia because of the language, the club’s stature and the league.

He said: “There was a lot of talk of a lot of clubs – Barcelona, England – but I left it with my sister, my family. They were the ones who handled it all with my agents. West Ham was real, a big club. But the truth is that when I found out about Valencia I didn’t hesitate: because of the language, the club, the league”.

South American players often prefer to play in Spain and this seems like a classic case of that. It is easier to adapt culturally than in England.

West Ham went on to sign Haller instead and the former Bundesliga star has been quite impressive so far.

The Hammers have had a poor start to their season thought and it will be interesting to see if they can turn it around.

After the significant summer outlay, the Hammers were expected to challenge for Europa League football. Instead, they are closer to the relegation zone.

Unless they turn their form around soon, Pellegrini could find himself out of a job.