ANDREA BELOTTI was the subject of a hefty bid this month but it might not have been from West Ham.
West Ham looked to set to be in the market for a striker in January as serious doubts emerged over where Marko Arnautovic's future lay.
That meant Manuel Pellegrini was credited with interest in a whole host of players, including Torino hitman Belotti.
It was suggested that Belotti had been lined up to replace Arnautovic, who has since committed his future to West Ham by signing a new contract.
Torino sporting director Gianluca Petrachi has now provided an update on the Serie A side's stance regarding Belotti.
And he has revealed a big offer was made for the 25-year-old - though he declined to say who it came from.
"If we had wanted, we could have carried on some talks with some clubs," Petrachi told Sky Sport Italia.
"Belotti was looked for by a team whose name I do not reveal. Important money was being offered, but the president stopped all talk."
West Ham's search for a striker is over for now after Marko Arnautovic decided to extend his stay at the London Stadium.
The Austria international explained his decision to stick with the Hammers in a video released alongside the club's announcement.
"First of all, this has not been an easy time for me and my family," Arnautovic said.
"I said [on Friday] on my Instagram page that obviously it was a big offer, an interesting offer and me and my family took some time and thought about this because I think any human being would think about this.
"Everyone who deals with this club knows I never, ever refused to play or refused to train. I was training every day.
"Why should I refuse? It was just hard for my head. Some people can deal with this, some people can't deal with it.
"At the end of the day, I sat down with my family, I sat down with the people around me and I said stop all this talking, stop all this waiting, I'm going to go the coach and tell him: 'I'm ready to play'.
"I'm back and I can focus now completely on West Ham because I have committed to stay and I'm going to give everything.
"I was talking especially to Mark, to Nobes, because he is a legend here, everyone loves him and he is a king here because he has been here for years.
"He was agreeing completely with me, this is the situation, but he was also saying to me: 'Look what you've got from this club, look what you've got from the fans. We all love you here, we all can go further up, we are all improving', so of course I took this to my heart and I decided for this.
"I'm happy for this and in this interview I want to say to the fans that I'm happy to stay, I glad to play again, show myself and score goals, to make assists, but also to say that the major point is Marko Arnautovic never refused [to play or train].
"I'm happy, I'm happy to come to this point. I'm happy that this club is improving. Step by step, every week, every month we are seeing some improvement and that's good.
"You can feel this also from outside, from the fans, because they can see this team is improving.
"I want to stop all this noise and focus on my job, to play football, and the fans hopefully are going to support us in every game that we play and we keep on winning games.
"Believe me, it was terrible for myself to sit at home and watch the team against Bournemouth, because I couldn't affect it. It was a very bad feeling for myself and I felt kind of mad, angry at myself because I couldn't help the team. But I'm back, and I will give everything now here.
"We go again on Tuesday, against Wolverhampton away, and I want to play and am hungry to score goals."