Dyer deal is off, says Curbishley

The two clubs had agreed a fee thought to be ?6m for the 28-year-old midfielder but Curbishley has blamed Newcastle for the move collapsing.

"We made an offer, had it accepted, agreed personal terms and the player passed a medical," he said.

"But it was pulled at the 11th hour by Newcastle and there's not much we can do about that."

Interview: West Ham boss Alan Curbishley

He added: "It has never happened to me before. We are disappointed and the player is very disappointed but it's definitely off."

Dyer is keen to leave the north-east club and move south for "family reasons" and a move looked set to be completed after Newcastle boss Sam Allardyce's comments earlier this week.

"We've agreed a deal so you would have thought he will end up where he needs to be in order to solve his family problems," Allardyce said after his side's 1-0 defeat to Hull in a friendly.

"From our point of view and from his it's a satisfactory result."

The reasons for Newcastle's apparent change of heart are not yet known.

They have signed striker Alan Smith and centre-back Claudio Cacapa in the last two days.

The St James' Park outfit are also close to signing left-back Jose Enrique from Villarreal, according to the Spanish side.