West Ham pass up on the opportunity to sign Ryan Bertrand – Jack Rosser
West Ham opted against signing former Southampton full-back Ryan Bertrand on a free transfer this summer.
The Hammers are looking to sign a left-back this summer and have been linked with an array of names.
One name that popped up on the radar was that of the then Southampton left-back, but the club decided not to pursue the England international, according to London Evening Standard journalist Jack Rosser.
Via his personal Twitter account, he said, “Ryan Bertrand has agreed to join Leicester.
“Left Southampton on a free at the end of the season had been of interest to AC Milan and Arsenal – West Ham turned down the chance to sign him.”
“Signing contract with Leicester City soon.”
A few minutes before Rosser’s tweet, Romano confirmed that an agreement had been reached between Bertrand and the Foxes.
Better options out there
Our transfer business thus far hasn’t been anything noteworthy but we’re glad that the club did not pursue the Bertrand move any further.
We’re in need of an upgrade and not a backup for Aaron Cresswell, who, to be fair to him, had a pretty good season for us in 2020/21.
The Englishman kept getting forward to combine with our attacking players, whipped crosses into the box and registered an impressive return of eight Premier League assists all season.
That said, he will turn 32 at the end of the year and probably does not have too much left in the tank, although he has made 258 Premier League appearances.
He could have been our first choice option for next season, but that would probably be his last one as a regular in the playing eleven. It’s better we sign someone and ease them into the first team rather than expecting him to deliver from the first day at the club.
Bertrand isn’t exactly young, and is only going to Leicester as a backup as they don’t need to strengthen on their first-team options like we do.
It will be interesting to see who we end up signing.
In other West Ham news, ‘Lazy’, ‘Disaster’ – West Ham Super Fans want one player sold quickly this summer
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