West Ham United were wise to side with caution this summer having opted against pushing through a potential £26million deal to sign Chelsea full-back Emerson Palmeri.

What’s the word?

The Irons were linked with Chelsea’s out-of-favour defender Emerson this summer by talkSPORT, who claimed the 26-year-old was being considered by manager David Moyes to strengthen the backline in east London.

Emerson was thought to have been one of several players that could depart Stamford Bridge after failing to impress Frank Lampard last season, having been awarded just 15 Premier League appearances and playing infrequent roles in the Blues’ cup efforts.

But the Stamford Bridge natives were not willing to allow Emerson to depart on the cheap, and reports by Goal suggested they would demand £26m for the alleged Inter Milan target as they sought to raise funds to offset Ben Chilwell’s £45m arrival.

Lampard has continued to overlook Emerson this season having opted against naming the defender in any of his league squads to date, much to the Italy international’s disappointment.

“When I arrive here I change my head, I feel important and part of the group,” Emerson is quoted as saying by the Daily Mail while on international duty.

“At Chelsea, things are not going as I wish in this part of the season. I just have to work.”

It is noted that Chelsea will likely look to offload Emerson again in January, with the Santos, Brazil-born full-back behind Marcos Alonso and Chilwell in Lampard’s plans.

Wise to baulk at £26m deal

While Moyes is said to have considered Emerson as a potential option to explore in his search of a new full-back, David Gold, David Sullivan and Karren Brady were right to baulk at any deal for the disheartened 26-year-old if interest reached that level in east London.

Emerson would only have offered a marginal upgrade on current Irons ace Aaron Creswell when their numbers from last season are compared, with Moyes calling on the Liverpool-born 30-year-old to feature 29 times across all competitions at left-back in 2019/20.

Moyes handed Creswell a total of 31 outings in last year’s Premier League campaign, of which all were starting roles and the £5.85m-rated ace managed an average 0.8 key balls, 0.5 shots, 1.4 tackles, 1.9 clearances and 3.7 duels won per match while helping to five clean sheets, per SofaScore.

As for Emerson, the Chelsea outcast started just 13 of his 15 top-flight appearances and managed an average 1.3 key balls, 0.6 shots, 1.5 tackles, 0.9 clearances and 4.5 duels won a game while helping to just one clean sheet.

With Emerson on a £75,000-per-week contract at Stamford Bridge, West Ham would have been making a vast financial commitment for limited gains by signing the Lampard exile.

AND in other news, West Ham can sign a “gifted” long-term target before Friday’s deadline after a Premier League rival turned to alternative options.