Southend United Chairman Ron Martin has told a local newspaper that he erred by not accepting West Ham's bid for defender Bilel Mohsni back in August.
The 6'4" central defender, who can also operate as a striker spent several weeks on trial with West Ham during the summer after which United made an offer of £100,000 for his services.That bid was flatly rejected by Martin, who now admits that he made an error by not accepting West Ham's offer - which was dismissed as "paltry" at the time by Southend.
"I hold my hands up and admit I got that one wrong," he told the Echo. "I turned down the offer of £100,000 and went back asking for £250,000. I thought Bilel was worth that and thought a Premier League club would be able to pay a little bit more.
"But they didn't come back in and I think Bilel blames me for that now. It wasn't intentional though and I was just trying to get the best deal I could for the football club."
Mohsni marked his West Ham debut - a 4-1 defeat in a pre-season friendly at Grays on July 20th - with a goal for each side.
After appearing in the 2-1 win at Colchester 24 hours later, he joined the first team squad on their pre-season tour of Germany for friendlies against Rot-Weiß Erfurt, Dynamo Dresden and Energie Cottbus.
Having departed West Ham at the beginning of August, Mohsni made it clear that he had no intention of returning to the Shrimpers and was subsequently allowed to join Championship side Ipswich Town on loan.
However he had made just five substitute appearances for the Tractor Boys - and none since 10th November, when he was an 89th replacement for DJ Campbell.
Despite failing to secure a first team spot at Portman Road, Southend boss Paul Sturrock says that Mohsni will definitely not be returning to the Essex club when his loan spell expires in Janaury.
"He's a great lad and has real talent but he's a disruptive influence behind the scenes," he told the Echo. "He's also said he doesn't want to play for the football club any more.
"If Bilel goes back to France then he's in breach of contract and every two weeks we fine him two weeks wages. I don't know what will happen, but he's told us he only wants to go to a club playing in the Championship or Premier League."
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