West Ham United approach Peterborough United for January transfer window Ronnie Edwards deal, Crystal Palace interested
West Ham have made “initial approaches” to Peterborough United over a deal to sign Ronnie Edwards this month, according to The Sun.
The paper reported via their website on 8 January that the central defender is also a target for Crystal Palace and that so far the Hammers’ advances have not progressed.
David Moyes has been looking to upgrade in central defence again as Kurt Zouma is struggling with his knees, Angelo Ogbonna is 35, Nayef Aguerd is away at the Africa Cup of Nations and Konstantinos Mavropanos also going off hurt in the FA Cup draw with Bristol City at the weekend.
The club are believed to need to sell in order to buy this month, with Edwards said to be valued at around £4.5million plus a similar amount in add-ons [The Sun, 21 December].
Thilo Kehrer has already departed during this current window to Monaco on a loan-to-buy deal set to be worth £9.5m in the summer.
Step up
Edwards, 20, is expected to make the step up from League One Peterborough sooner or later and at his age he could feasibly become a fixture at West Ham for the next decade if they are successful in landing him.
Having reportedly had two bids of £4m rejected in the summer [Sun, 21 December] it appears that the club isn’t willing to do quite what it takes to secure his signature, so they may not 100% convinced he is ready for the Premier League.
Given it is expected to take the departure of Aguerd for big-money to open the door to a premium move for the likes of Max Kilman there is some logic in looking at the youngster as a cheaper option to fill Kehrer’s role and develop.
But if Moyes isn’t certain yet there might be something of the move that brought Flynn Downes in from Swansea last season and then saw the midfielder feature sparingly before he was shunted out on loan to Southampton after just one campaign.
It certainly seems to be proving easier said than done to shift players from the squad who don’t have long-term futures in order to make space for new arrivals.
So if it ends up being impossible to push for ready-made contributors there may be some mileage in picking up a comparatively cheap England under-20 international who big things are expected of.
In other West Ham news, a “leading” Hammers transfer target is “keen” on a switch to the Premier League after talks were held.