West Ham United target Charlie Taylor did not push for Burnley exit
West Ham United transfer target Charlie Taylor didn’t consider leaving Burnley this summer after plenty of Premier League interest in the left-back.
It was reported by ExWHUemployee (podcast on Patreon, August 8) that Taylor was one to watch for the Hammers but a move didn’t quite materialise.
However, Taylor has since spoken out about his future after a summer of speculation for the 28-year-old Burnley man.
As quoted by The Burnley Express [9 September], Taylor said: “No, not really. I was never really pushing to move, I’m happy here and I think it’s a good project.
“With the manager and the players we’ve brought in, I think we’ve got a good squad. I think we should be right up there challenging for the league this year.
“With the amount of change I’ve seen here over the last six months you just never know what’s going to happen. You never know in football.
“It was probably down to the club; I didn’t know where they saw my future, but I was always happy here, I enjoy it here and I always have done. It’s a great group of lads so I was never in any rush to leave.”
Good summer regardless
The arrival of Emerson is a significant upgrade for the Hammers as David Moyes fine-tuned a great summer of transfer business. Taylor is the same age as Emerson but has not got anywhere near the same amount of experience as the Italy international.
Moyes will be more than happy with the options that he has at his disposal for the remainder of the season. The players must now adapt to playing with each other and the West Ham boss must find the best way of playing with a number of quality ball players now at his disposal.
The Hammers have always been keen to sacrifice possession and play on the counterattack, particularly away from home, but with the likes of Lucas Paqueta and Gianluca Scamacca in contention, it would be a waste to not look to dominate the ball more in the 2022/23 season.
It’s good that West Ham avoided a move for Taylor because he is simply not up to the standard that is required at the club. If the club hierarchy want to take the Hammers to new heights, then bringing in a 28-year-old Championship defender is not the answer.