Yakubu wanted to leave Everton for West Ham, admits David Moyes

David Moyes has admitted Ayegbeni Yakubu wanted to leave Everton this summer and suggested the Nigeria international lost focus when priced out of a move to West Ham United. Yakubu made his first appearance of the season as a substitute against Manchester United last weekend and is likely to be involved against Newcastle United today, as Tim Cahill is struggling with a knee injury and Everton are in search of their first Premier League win of the season. Moyes described the 27-year-old as "out of condition" at the start of the campaign, and he is still not fully fit three months after Nigeria's exit from the World Cup, but Everton's shortage of strikers has increased their reliance on the £11.25m signing from Middlesbrough. "He would have liked the opportunity to have left," Moyes said when asked why Yakubu had not been fit to play. "But we never received an offer that was enough for him and because of that he never really got himself in the right frame of mind. But I see now that he has. Maybe it's down to the window being shut and he's back here and getting himself back in contention to play." West Ham had a £6m bid rejected by Everton in the summer, yet followed that up with a £5m offer for a player who has struggled to regain a regular first-team place under Moyes after rupturing an achilles tendon in November 2008. Moyes said: "I've never had any problems with Yak; I've always had a good relationship with him. I think he probably felt he wanted a change as last season we had competition for places and he was maybe thinking that he wasn't guaranteed a start here all the time. It's part of the game but he's under contract and he couldn't have left without our say-so. We played a part in keeping him as well. "We said we thought Yak was worth more than we were offered. We were offered £6m and the next offer was £5m so we made a decision to say no. His goal-scoring record in the Premier League makes him worth more than that and we made a decision that we were not going to let him go for that price. It was as simple as that." Moyes, and his assistant manager Steve Round, have accepted the Football Association's fine of £8,000 for improper conduct for confronting the referee, Martin Atkinson, on the pitch following Everton's 3-3 draw with Manchester United. But Moyes stands by the argument that Atkinson erred in blowing for time with Everton on the counterattack. The Everton manager said: "I think you hold your hand up when you get things wrong. That's the way I was always taught to do it. But I still don't understand the decision now. If anything, it's even worse. The whistle had gone and Phil [Jagielka] knew it had before he took the shot."