ALAN Pardew admitted today he was hugely disappointed that West Ham
United could not complete a transfer deadline Club record bid for
Porto striker Benni McCarthy.
The Hammers manager said: "We want to bring players of the highest calibre here so I am as disappointed for the fans as I am for the team.
"But we have assembled an excellent young, hungry squad of players here who can cement this club's place in the Premiership if the supporters get behind them.
"We have had so many positives from our early performances and it is important we keep that momentum going.
"Our young players have really taken the step up in class in their stride and our new signings have rightly earned plaudits in the media.
"We have top quality strikers in Teddy Sheringham, Bobby Zamora, Marlon Harewood and Jeremie Aliadiere with David Bellion still to come back from injury. So we are already well served in that department."
West Ham United Director Scott Duxbury revealed: "Myself and Managing Director Paul Aldridge worked through the night on Tuesday and at 3am we thought we had a deal.
"Senior officials at Porto encouraged us to arrange a meeting with the player and his advisors with a view to concluding a deal on Wednesday whilst they confirmed the details of the transfer with their President.
"Unfortunately, during the day Porto apologised but informed us that the deal was not acceptable to the President and that they wished to retain the player.
"During the rest of the day and early evening we frantically tried to persuade Porto to agree to a deal, this cumulated in a club record 9 million Euro bid being offered. However, Porto were adamant they would not release the player and we finally accepted defeat at about 10.00pm.
"The speculation regarding any clause in the player's
contract relating to offers that had to be accepted by Porto was
not correct. Porto retained the right to decline or accept any
offer at their discretion."
Alan Pardew added: "Benni is an excellent player, who leads
the line well and is a first class finisher. He is also a
delightful man. He never wavered from his desire to join West Ham
and that makes the breakdown of the deal all the more
disappointing.
"But I want the fans to know this is not the end of our transfer activity for the season. We will look for new players and make our moves in the transfer window come January."
Pards concluded: "We are not taking this setback on the chin and shrugging our shoulders. There is a mixture of anger and disappointment at the club this morning, but we are going to dust ourselves down, work harder and give everything we have got to give the supporters the success they deserve."