Former West Ham United manager Harry Redknapp has revealed that the club almost signed Andriy Shevchenko in 1994 and not doing so could be the club’s biggest transfer mistake ever.
The ex-Hammers boss revealed to Sky Sports that he took Shevchenko on trial and liked what he saw.
But, ultimately, he admitted that at that time, the Ukraine international was far too expensive to sign.
As quoted on Sky Sports, he said:
I think it was Shevchenko. There were no foreign players here. We got a phone call from some proper chaps round the East End. They were doing lots of business in Russia and Ukraine. They said ‘we can get you a couple of players over here, the best ones, for you to have a look at’.
Two players came over, and a game was fixed up with Barnet reserves.
Shevchenko got two goals. We liked him but he was something like a million pound. I remember talking to Frank [Lamprd snr] after and just saying it’s too much money.
Read West Ham verdict
Deciding not to pursue the transfer ended up being very costly because Shevchenko went on to become one of the world’s best strikers.
The striker scored 246 club career goals and won the prestigious Ballon d’Or award in 2004 ahead of Arsenal forward Thierry Henry.
It’s a classic case of ‘what could have been’ for the Hammers because if Redknapp had decided to sign him up, he could have fired the London club to success during the Englishman’s years in charge of the club from 1994.
Shevchenko does have a teenage son who is making a name for himself, so West Ham may not want to make the same mistake twice!
