Cole Palmer has been one of the players of the Premier League season but he was almost on his way to another top-flight club before Chelsea trashed out last-minute deal with Manchester City

David Moyes has confirmed that West Ham were close to agreeing a deal to sign Cole Palmer from Manchester City last summer - only for Chelsea to swoop in and sign the England star.

Hammers boss Moyes believes Palmer has been a revelation at Stamford Bridge and said he had several conversations with the star’s agent.

But the Scot hinted that Lucas Paqueta’s move to City being stalled posed a hurdle for the East Londoners to get in there first.

And before West Ham visit Chelsea tomorrow, Moyes said: “It was close, close. You can imagine the other part of it, the possibility of someone leaving here that might have made it work. I was in regular contact with his agent, we were well on the road with it. It just changed at the end and we couldn’t do it.”

Palmer, 21, has scored 23 goals and provided 11 assists as the standout positive for Mauricio Pochettino ’s inconsistent Chelsea. And that is expected to be enough to earn him a seat on the plane when England head to Germany for next month’s European Championships.

Moyes would not confirm whether he had spoken with Palmer about the move but a series of conversations took place with agent Mark Rankine, who was managed by the 60-year-old when at Preston North End.

“If I did [speak to Palmer] I wouldn’t breach confidence on anything like that. But his agent is one of my ex-players and we were dealing with it,” Moyes added.

“I watched him play for England Under-21s regularly and I thought he was always the standout there. I was always keen to bring in British players.

“The biggest problem was he was playing in the same position as Jarrod Bowen as well a little bit. But I had the thought about Jarrod becoming a centre forward.

“Lee Carsley, who is one of my ex-players as well, is England Under-21 manager and was always giving me lots of advice on their players but Cole especially.

“He spoke so highly about him, what he was like. We knew he could play in several different positions. And, let’s be fair, he has been a revelation for Chelsea this year.”