West Ham missed out on the signing of Arsenal target Jamie Vardy this summer despite their confidence that they could pull off the ambitious transfer, Goal understands.
The Hammers have made a marquee striker their top priority this summer and made an initial approach for the Leicester City star in May.
West Ham grew increasingly hopeful that they could prise Vardy away from the Premier League champions by activating his £20 million release clause and offering a salary package of £90,000-per-week plus an appearance bonus of £15,000.
They were then left stunned, however, by a U-turn from Vardy and his representatives that saw them up their wage demands to a figure between £125,000 and £150,000-a-week.
With West Ham aware that could cost around £30m over four years - the length of the contract offered - and take the total price of the transfer to £50m, negotiations stalled.
Vardy is now widely expected to complete a move to Arsenal instead and West Ham co-chairman David Sullivan has expressed his astonishment at the numbers involved.
"It was reported that one of our targets was Jamie Vardy and while it is true that we would loved to have had him, the numbers being talked about in a potential move to Arsenal show that the market is going potty," he told the club's website.
"It is safe to say that signing him would have smashed our current wage structure and we are determined to buy players with good value in this mad market."
Liverpool had been reported as a potential destination for Vardy but Goal understands that there was never any real interest from Anfield and West Ham were unaware of any competition for his signature when they sat down to thrash out terms.
Once the full cost of signing the 29-year-old had emerged, however, the Hammers pulled the plug and turned their attention to the likes of Alexandre Lacazette of Lyon and Marseille's Michy Batshuayi.
Vardy now looks set to line up alongside Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil next season but he could have been clad in claret and blue had West Ham's shock bid been successful.
- Goal