West Ham manager David Moyes admits that the Hammers could be priced out of a move for Burnley's James Tarkowski this summer.
The Hammers have been strongly linked with a move for the Burnley defender, who has impressed in recent seasons with Sean Dyche's side.
West Ham have had two bids turned down from the Clarets for the former Brentford man, with the second bid of around £30million said to fall well short of Burnley's valuation of the player.
And Moyes has said that West Ham could be forced to concede defeat in their pursuit of the 27-year-old, who has also been linked with Leicester City.
Speaking at his pre-match press conference ahead of the Hammers' first Premier League game of the season against Newcastle, Moyes was asked if £50million would price West Ham out of a move for Tarkowski.
In reply, Moyes said: "Yeah I would have to say so in this market. We have all taken a bit of a hit from the Covid situation, we certainly have and because of that it will make it difficult.
"We are trying to get players, ones that will improve the squad and not just bring them in willy-nilly. I want to get players I want. If Burnley say no and Sean says no then I respect that decision but yet, we have made a couple of offers for him.
"Obviously we will get to a limit where we feel we can’t got much further but it could be a price they might accept."
Tarkowski has established himself as a key man for Dyche and Burnley, forging a successful partnership in recent seasons with Clarets captain Ben Mee at the heart of the defence.
And Dyche confirmed earlier this week that Burnley are under no pressure to sell any of their star players this summer.
"The club is in a very, very strong position so there's no overwhelming desire to be selling players," he said.
"Do players have a price at any club? Yes, we've seen that across the whole of football.
"Eventually a day comes if someone's going to hit a certain number then all clubs - not just Burnley Football Club - have to make a decision."
