By Sam Stone

20th Sep, 2022 | 7:44am

West Ham United want to keep Craig Dawson at the London Stadium

West Ham United want to keep Craig Dawson at the London Stadium with the defender keen to exit the club according to Dean Jones.

The Irons blocked a deadline day departure to Wolves for the 32-year-old (talkSPORT’s Alex Crook, 1 September) after failing to find a replacement.

It now appears the club would like the no-nonsense defender to remain at the London Stadium after a summer of speculation surrounding his future.

Former Bleacher Report journalist Jones told GIVEMESPORT (19 September): “I think West Ham would like him to stay, ideally, but they are going to be pretty respectful to whatever Dawson wants at this stage.”

Let him go

Despite their eagerness to keep Dawson at the club, West Ham should try and avoid having an unhappy player on their books. It’s clear that he wants to move closer to his family and that his time at the London Stadium is reaching its conclusion.

When Nayef Aguerd returns from injury, the club should have no issue in letting Dawson depart, with David Moyes having an array of defensive options to choose from.

Aguerd, Kehrer and Zouma all sit ahead of Dawson in the pecking order. Right now it’s hard to envisage the former West Brom defender having a long-term future at the club.

Furthermore, by letting Dawson leave the club, Moyes could have some more leeway in his budget to add to his squad in the January window, with another central midfielder probably his most pressing concern after Tomas Soucek’s early season form.

It’s been a memorable stint at the London Stadium for Dawson, but it does now feel that a fresh challenge is required for the veteran defender.