Carlos Tevez to West Ham: Striker turns down chance of fairy tale return despite being offered biggest wages ever
Former Hammers striker would have been the most expensive player in the club's history
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WEST HAM have failed in an audacious bid to bring Carlos Tevez back to the club.
The Argentine striker was offered to become the highest-paid player in the Eastenders’ history.
West Ham offered Tevez a contract worth £150,000-a-week PLUS bonuses to rejoin them from Boca Juniors.
But the star – who is still hero-worshipped by West Ham fans after his goals saved them from relegation in 2007 – wanted a whopping £250,000 a week.
Co-chairman David Sullivan revealed: “All this business ‘I love West Ham.’ Well, it’s ‘I love West Ham but only if they give me 250 grand a week.’
“So how much love is that for West Ham?
“I actually offered him 150 grand a week to come back plus bonuses.
“I thought that was an incredible offer for someone who loves West Ham.
“It was also a huge gamble for us because he’s 33 now and hasn’t done it in South America.”
Tevez spent just one season at West Ham but is still revered as a legend by their fans after scoring seven goals in 10 matches to keep them in the Premier League nine years ago.
He then moved to Manchester United and City – where he was given standing ovations on his returns to Upton Park – before he joined Juventus in the summer of 2013.
He left the Italians last summer to return to his first club Boca Juniors in Argentina.
But despite a disappointing season there - where he scored just nine goals in 23 League appearances - Sullivan thought he would be man to lead West Ham’s attack in their first season in at the Olympic Stadium.
Sullivan said: “It wasn’t a publicity stunt, I saw him being our No1 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?
“We tried to get him 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 grand a week? Come on.
“He’ll probably stay where he is now, because he doesn’t pay a lot of tax down there.”
Meanwhile, the Hammers are closing in on the signing of another striker called Carlos – Bacca from AC Milan.