West Ham set to sign Craig Dawson permanently for £2million – report
Craig Dawson will sign for West Ham on a permanent transfer if he starts three more Premier League games for the club.
The Englishman signed on loan from Watford in the summer transfer window and didn’t feature for the first team until December. He’s played in each of our last 12 league matches and kept six clean sheets.
Dawson scored a towering header in the 2-0 victory over Leeds on Monday. It was his fourth goal for the club in all competitions. He’s one of the in-form defenders in the top-flight and the Hammers have conceded just 10 times with him in the XI.
The Athletic broke the news today that Dawson will trigger a £2m transfer when he makes 15 Premier League starts for the Hammers. The club paid £1million to take him on loan in October. At the same time, the pre-contract agreement and paperwork for the permanent deal were signed.
Steal of the century
Dawson’s performances thus far have been extraordinary. Our number 15 became the first defender to keep four clean sheets in his first four matches for the club. Defensively, it’s the most successful start to a Hammers career a player has ever had. Admittedly, he isn’t the player we thought we were signing at all.
The initial loan move was scrutinised by the West Ham fans across social media. It was seen as a cheap alternative to going after Fikayo Tomori of Chelsea or Duje Caleta-Car of Marseille, both of which rejected moves. It’s fair to say that this move has worked out far better than anyone expected.
We now look set to sign him for a measly £2million. In today’s market that’s an absolute steal. Not only is he arguably our best (fit) defender, but Dawson is averaging a goal every three Premier League games. He’s playing the best football of his career, and could even be an outsider for the England squad’s coming up.
Above all else, Watford must be feeling gutted. They signed the Englishman from West Brom for £5.5million ahead of the 2019 season. Had they not signed a pre-contract, they could be charging us north of £15million and we’d probably have to pay it, given how good he’s been for us. £2million will do just fine, thanks.
In other West Ham news, Super Fans discuss our chances of qualifying for Europe.