Radoslav Kovac has hailed his days at West Ham as the best of his career, despite ending on a sour note.
Former player says spell provided "the best years in my career"
Radoslav Kovac has hailed his days at West Ham as the best of his career, but is disappointed to have ended his stint on a sour note.
Former Czech Republic international Kovac completed a move to Basel on Friday after spending two years with the Hammers following a 2009 move from Spartak Moscow.
The midfielder revealed his fond memories under the guidance of former boss Gianfranco Zola, but admits he and the Italian's successor Avram Grant did not see eye to eye.
"The first two years were fantastic and were the best years in my career," he told
isport.blesk.cz. "Those were great times under Gianfranco Zola.
"We had a good team and had good company. Then Grant came in and everything changed. I don't like to recall the final days and weeks but I was taking it as it was coming.
"Otherwise, life in London was great and my family was happy there. We learned a little bit of the language too."
Allardyce
Kovac claims current boss Sam Allardyce, who replaced Grant following the Israeli's sacking, wanted the 31-year-old to stay at Upton Park, but he found the lure of UEFA Champions League football too difficult to turn down.
"Sam Allardyce came in and said he would like to co-operate with me," Kovac said. "They asked for €500,000 and Basel were willing to pay €250,000, but then they upped it and the deal was done.
"I felt how much they wanted to capture me. The talks with them were correct and very swift and, moreover, they are in the Champions League."
Despite his affection for West Ham, Kovac was fully intent on leaving the club this summer, although he would have foreseen no problem in seeing out the final year of his contract had Basel failed to negotiate a transfer.
He added: "Even though there was a managerial change, I still wanted to leave as I was not playing often. Naturally, if the deal had fallen through I would have stayed, it would not have been the end of the world."
