As Gonzalo Montiel swept home the decisive penalty kick during Argentina’s thrilling World Cup final victory over France at the Lusail Stadium, West Ham United supporters could have been forgiven for wondering where they had heard his name before.
Well, there was a time when the man who fired the Albiceleste to their third World Cup crown was being almost relentlessly being linked with a move to the London Stadium.
Back in January 2020, West Ham submitted a £9 million loan-to-buy deal for the then-River Plate right-back. One head coach Marcelo Gallardo described as ‘ridiculous’ (AS).
“If you come with a loan offer to sign a valuable player of ours, I say; ‘thank you, but no’,” he fumed.
Tell us what you really think, Marcelo…
“It is not what we want. It would be ridiculous if we agreed to start a conversation with a proposal like that.”
West Ham United could have brought Argentina hero Gonzalo Montiel to the Premier League
West Ham would go on to make two more offers; One during the summer of 2020, and another in the winter of 2021. Third time, however, is not always the charm.
“I think Montiel would fit in well at West Ham,” then-Argentina team-mate and Hammers ace Manuel Lanzini told Ole during the COVID-enforced football lockdown.
“I know they looked at him and couldn’t bring him in. He asked me (about West Ham), and I spoke to him.”
“(West Ham) have already been interested in Gonzalo,” Montiel’s agent explained to Clarin that very same summer.
“And they continue to be.”
From River Plate prospect to World Cup winner
It would take until August 2021, however, for Montiel to finally get his long-awaited move across the Atlantic. And it was Sevilla, rather than West Ham, who eventually secured the services of the one-time Copa Libertadores winner; signing Montiel in a cut-price £7 million deal.
A move to La Liga has done his international prospects no harm at all, either. Almost half of Montiel’s 22 Argentina caps have come this year alone. And while the cameras were fixated on Lionel Messi and Emiliano Martinez following perhaps the greatest World Cup final in history, Montiel’s role in this most dramatic of triumphs will never be forgotten.
It was his penalty, coolly guided into the bottom corner at the end of nearly three enthralling hours, which ended Argentina’s 36 year wait for global domination.
