West Ham didn’t think Arthur Cabral was worth £12 million - and now the Brazilian is the Hammers’ biggest threat for Euro glory.
Cabral, 25, is being touted to leave Fiorentina to join AC Milan in a £70 million deal at the end of the season after the Italian giants opened negotiations to trigger a release clause in his contract.
But his final act for the Florence club will be to lead their attack against David Moyes’ team in the Europa Conference final in Prague on Wednesday night.
West Ham were interested in buying Cabral from Swiss club FC Basel in January 2022.
Newcastle also joined the race - but both Premier League clubs pushed for the deal to go through and that opened the door for Fiorentina to swoop last summer.
Cabral has scored 16 goals this season - including eight in 15 appearances in Europe - as Fiorentina have reached the final of the Europa Conference following their defeat to Inter Milan in the Coppa Italia final.
He still has three years left on his contract but Milan president Paolo Scaroni has been talking to his Fiorentina counterpart Rocco Commisso for the last six months about a deal to take the South American to the San Siro.
Cabral, who scored 75 goals in 118 appearances for Basel, admitted that England was his dream destination before moving to Italy.
He needed time to adapt to life in Serie A, but his form has rocketed in the second half of the season. Cabral said: “I think my form coincides with the excellent performance of the team.
“We are doing better and better and we are also scoring plenty of goals. The more we win, the more our team improves in our way of playing.
“I’m growing at the same pace as the team. Before, it took me a while to adapt, but now I see the results of my work. I’ve been at Fiorentina for almost a year now and I’ve always said that my goal is to keep improving and I think that’s what’s happening.
“I hope to continue growing to help the team even more.”
