West
Ham boss Glenn Roeder has moved to deny claims by Liverpool
forward El Hadji Diouf that the Hammers made a summer
bid for him.
The
Senegal international, who joined the Reds in a £10m
switch from Lens, stated on Tuesday that, amongst
others, West Ham wanted to buy him before his move
to Anfield.
However, Roeder has hit out at the striker's claims
by insisting the Hammers would not have had the money
to finance a bid for the star.
He said: "That one is a non-runner because we
don't have those funds - and neither did we seek to
raise them by selling any of our best players.
"I can only assume there has been a misunderstanding,
maybe involving his agent.
"Our record transfer is £5m and I have
been making it crystal clear for some six months that
we would not have huge funds and would therefore not
be spending big sums on anyone."
He added on the club's website: "We spent money
last pre-season but I knew I would not be able to
do that this time around."
