Following Declan Rice’s transfer to Arsenal, former West Ham manager David Moyes disclosed that he attempted to recruit midfielder Scott McTominay of Manchester United.
Rice left West Ham searching for a midfield replacement after completing an incredible £105 million move to the Gunners last summer.
James Ward-Prowse and Edson Alvarez were added by the Hammers, but according to Moyes, West Ham also showed “big interest” in McTominay but was unable to complete the move.
McTominay, who is currently in Germany for Euro 2024, will try to assist Scotland advance undetected before their last group match on Sunday night against Hungary.
The Scots had a terrible start to the Euros, losing 5-1 to the host Germany. However, they managed to salvage a point against Switzerland in their most recent match.
For Scotland to go to the European Championship knockout rounds for the first time ever, Moyes believes McTominay, a former West Ham target, will be essential.
“A lot of managers have stories of players who get away with their careers, and McTominay is one of those for me because I tried to sign him last summer with West Ham,” Moyes said to BBC Sport.
‘It was always going to be hard to replace Declan Rice with any one player when he joined Arsenal, and we were not planning to do that – we wanted to bring in a couple of midfielders instead.
‘We bought two really good players in James Ward-Prowse and Edson Alvarez, so that was the cover, but Scott was certainly one of the players we had a big interest in as well.
‘He is a good all-round midfielder, but to me his best attributes are arriving in the area, or the edges of it, at the right time to score or make some chances.
‘McTominay was a player who I felt I needed at the time, but we didn’t quite get it over the line and he went on to score a lot of big goals for Manchester United last season instead.’
Moyes stated, “Put him in the Hungary box” in reference to McTominay’s role against Hungary. If Scotland is to attain the outcome they need in their last Group A match, it needs to happen as much as possible.
Due to his versatility, the Manchester United player has been extremely crucial to Scotland over the last few years.
Recently, McTominay has played higher up the pitch, which is where I believe you get the best out of him. Not too long ago, he was utilized as a center-half under Steve Clarke for a spell.
“What really sticks out to me about him is his goals.” In the last few months, he has scored so many goals for both club and country in important matches that I’m starting to believe he may become Scotland’s leading scorer.
That is unquestionably the aspect of his game that we most need right now.
“McTominay gives us the best chance of doing that on Sunday, in a game we probably need to win to reach the last 16,” said the person who believes that Scotland will not pose much of a danger going forward at Euro 2024.
In Moyes’ final season at the London Stadium, West Ham came in ninth. Last month, Julen Lopetegui of Spain was announced as the Scot’s replacement.