by Nia Griffiths

Carlos Vela has reportedly turned down the chance to come back to the Premier League – or more specifically, to join London club West Ham United.

The former Arsenal striker currently plays for Real Sociedad but the East London team have apparently put in a £21.4m bid to bring him to Upton Park. However, the 26-year-old has rejected the offer. Whether this has anything to do with his loyalty to Arsenal, as many reports are insinuating, I highly doubt it.

Vela has played 158 matches for Real Sociedad since he joined and scored 57 goals. He initially spent a season on loan there before transferring permanently in 2012.

For Arsenal, he was hit or miss. Literally, at times. He joined us in 2005, yet only managed to earn 62 appearances in total and after several seasons of not really hitting his stride fully, he was loaned out to a number of teams including Celtic and West Bromich Albion.

By the time he finally left, he’d become so disillusioned with Arsenal that he practically took the door off its hinges on the way out. I therefore doubt him supposedly turning down West Ham has anything to do with ‘loyalty‘.