West Ham transfer news as Jonathan Tah may follow Tim Steidten appointment

Following the upcoming appointment of former Bayer Leverkusen squad planner Tim Steidten, West Ham are targeting German international Jonathan Tah, according to Kicker.

The report states Tah has a release clause in his contract worth £15.5million and has been "pursuing the Premier League dream for some time."

There is a suggestion that any interest from a "top" Premier League club is unlikely, despite his strong end to the season, but the Europa Conference League winners could bring him in to shore up their defence, due to Steidten having worked with Tah previously.

Sign him up

West Ham should purse the signing of Tah as a priority, with the £15.5million release clause in his contract an affordable price for a defender with his experience and quality.

The Kicker article suggests that Xabi Alonso would like to keep Tah at the club, but with the Hammers able to offer the same level of European football as Leverkusen, the Europa League, as well as higher wages, a deal shouldn't be too hard to complete - especially due to the release clause.

Tah would be an important component in what was a leaky West Ham defence last season - an issue they will surely look to improve.

He has shown good reliability after playing 47 games across all competitions last season, without missing a single game through injury. This would be a stark improvement on West Ham's current centre backs, with Kurt Zouma missing 13 games through injury last season, and Nayef Aguerd missing 20.

In other West Ham news, a decision has been made on the future of Declan Rice