David Moyes has claimed there is little value in Britain for homegrown players for West Ham while making it clear that he will not try to persuade players to join the club.
Moyes' side have spent £125million on deals this summer as they look to improve upon last season's seventh place finish in the Premier League and UEFA Europa League semi-final.
Of the seven players who have joined the Hammers, only one has been British - Flynn Downes from England. And it looks like the club are choosing to buy foreign players with bids placed for Brazilian international Lucas Paqueta and Belgian Hans Vanaken.
READ MORE: West Ham’s hopes of signing Lyon’s Lucas Paqueta dented after bid rejected amid Arsenal links
The bid for Paqueta has since been rejected and speaking ahead of the UEFA Europa Conference League second-leg clash against Viborg, Moyes has explained why the club are choosing to do their business abroad.
"I think it probably tells you how little there is out there to buy, certainly British players," said Moyes. "I think it's probably easier to go abroad and maybe pick people up. But any of the British players, the prices have been really, really big for them. I think it's been harder.
"Now of course you can probably name a few where you can name free transfers, you get for little money. But if you're talking about trying to get the best-looking newcomers, who will be at the club for the next six, or seven years, it will cost you big money, so that's been a hard thing. We're seeing some really big prices."
West Ham have missed out on a number of players this summer, and Moyes admitted he has lost count of how many players they have made bids for. Mattheus Nunes and Amadou Onana ended up choosing Wolves and Everton respectively and the Scot has clarified that he will not resort to persuading players to choose the east London outfit over others, insisting they either want to join or not.
"I would never persuade people," Moyes added. "I want people who want to come and be a part of it. I don't want to go out and persuade people. I want them to come to a stadium where the support is right behind them – where they know they're getting great backing and great support.
"That plays a big part. I had a couple of people at the game at the weekend who were very keen to come to the club and you just never know when you've got people watching. I'm trying to attract top players to the club. I need the crowd and everybody to be right behind the team all the way, even when it's quite not so good."
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