By Louis Nixon

It’s certainly no surprise to see the Hammers and Nuno eyeing some central defenders, but after a targeted scout report, it’s evident what requirements we are looking for at centre-back. 

Throughout our search, many targets have been deemed either too expensive or not ‘value for money.’ Unsurprisingly, we’re targeting some leaders, which doesn’t necessarily translate to a bad transfer. 

Fans will have already known that we were after Eric Dier, but as time has passed, it appears that the deal might come with numerous complications and despite the player being open to join us, Monaco on the other hand aren’t keen on loosing him, so a deal will be difficult to conclude, therefore, we have landed our eyes on Willy Boly and Jamaal Lascelles. 

Now, initially at the forefront of it, here we’re seeing two aged defenders that are certainly past their peak, no doubt about it, but in honesty, there’s some serious positives that we could get from these deals, one of which is the most obvious and that’s the leadership, the other experienced quality that either could provide for West Ham.

An experienced defender, such as one of these two, alongside Todibo, would already be an improvement to Max Kilman. You’d be quite surprised how one defender can impact an entire backline! 

Some may see these two targets as a cop out, a set of defendrs who will be cheap due to their age and are knocking on the door of retirement, which yes, that has aspects of truth to it.

The deals would likely be completed on the cheap for a few million and whilst it would be nice to have a younger centreback with ideal qualities, at the moment, we cannot risk that, we need a defender who knows the league and can fight for the badge. 

If you’d ask me which defender I would like us to sign, these two names wouldn’t pop into my head, but certainly, for a few million, you’d be able to buy leadership, which is what the Hammers have been in dire need of.