More West Ham United Stories {{#articles}} {{item.title}}

Imagine how much different West Ham would have looked with Cavani rather than Carlton Cole up top. Well, it very nearly happened.

Palermo president Maurizio Zamparini has revealed to Sky Sport Italia that he blocked a move to West Ham for Edinson Cavani, according to Football Italia.

Uruguayan striker Cavani has a habit of dividing opinion amongst the majority of fans, with many pointing to his tendency to blow big chances in crucial games (below), while others have argued that his astounding record of 139 goals in 208 league appearances for Napoli and PSG speaks for itself.

‘El Matador’s’ career could have turned out quite differently if former Palermo manager Stefano Colantuono had got his own way however, with Zamparini revealing that a cut-price move to West Ham was mooted before his successful switch to Naples.

“When Cavani was here, I had coaches who were knuckleheads!,” the outspoken Zamparini told Sky Italia, as reported by Football Italia.

“Colantuono, for example, wanted me to send him to West Ham. I told him, ‘you can go to West Ham’.”

According to Football Italia, Colantuono himself revealed soon after Cavani’s exit that the lank-haired hitman had personally requested a move to the English capital in 2010, though the president’s intervention left then-West Ham gaffer Avram Grant relying upon Carlton Cole (below), Freddie Piquionne and Zavon Hines.

West Ham ended the season bottom of the Premier League, scoring just 43 goals all season. It could have been so different, however, if Zamparini had been alert to the prodigious talent within his ranks.

In other news, Some Aston Villa fans react as Ross McCormack joins non-league Aldershot