An eye for age? The Hammers certainly like the concept of signing a cheaper central defender this summer, and as time has passed, it has become blatantly obvious what the Hammers plan is for the remainder of the transfer window.
In search of a central defender to reinforce the backline, the Hammers have officially shortlisted Axel Disasi, Fabian Schar, Tyrone Mings and Victor Lindelof.
These are the domestic names of interest as the Hammers still remain keen on other international targets elsewhere, such as Charlie Cresswell, but it appears to be that every player the club attempts to move for is either too expensive or not to Nuno’s liking, which, in translation, indicates that the telephone lines are down between Nuno and the board or perhaps there’s a small aspect of miscommunication… wonder if it’ll be ironed out.
All of the listed names appear as a waiting list for the Saudi League, not another Premier League club! But the truth is West Ham’s options at the moment are dire, they’re nothing short of liabilities, and Nuno has inadvertently still been desperate to sign one, hence his comments after every match since the transfer window has opened, claiming that “we need to rebalance the squad”.
Rebalancing for purpose, or for the sake of making the fans happy, is the question to be answered at the moment. It has been confirmed that Nuno is delaying the process of signing a centre-back, but that is only because he isn’t happy with the options that have been provided towards him by the club’s chief scout and target provider, Agent DS.
With the exclusion of Charlie Cresswell, for whom Toulouse have rejected a €20,000,000 bid by German side Wolfsburg, the remaining targets are likely to cost around the £5,000,000 to £10,000,000 mark. A cheap price for a defender and little to no enthusiasm to fork out more funds, as it will break the imaginary money border that has been set.
Leadership is one factor, but being old, frail, or simply not good enough won’t provide the Hammers any benefit. It’s a huge risk with an old reward, sometimes old is gold, but that’s only in rare cases. - LN
Comments
Sounds like we are trying to
Sounds like we are trying to sign another Dawson. Only 16 games left and the probability of Championship football next season. Basically rolling a turd in glitter. Cos we all know you cant polish it!!
This reminds me of 2002/3
We were desperate for a centre back, linked with Matthew Upson but weren't prepared to pay the going rate and the consequences were we we relegated with 42 points only getting a draw at Birmingham on the last day... Where Upson was playing!
Not getting Cresswell will haunt us.
If Old is Gold
Then I'd be more than happy with Pinnock but a player like Guehi going for £20M has kinda set the benchmark for any future sales in my opinion and he isn't old.
Sticking with Brentford and seeing the fees being bandied about, I reckon a £20M offer would tempt Bees to sell either Nathan Collins OR Lewis Potter. Both young. Both proven Premier League defenders.