West Ham fans should welcome Thilo Kehrer news, David Moyes clearly does not rate him
As we approach the new year, we also approach transfer silly season and already West Ham are being involved in the rumour mill.
According to Sky Sport Germany journalist Florian Plettenberg, posting on his X account, Thilo Kehrer is ready to depart the London Stadium in the January window with Eintracht Frankfurt said to be interested.
On the face of it, you could argue the Hammers should not be looking to sell. They will definitely be in the Europa League in the New Year, have the chance to be in the League Cup semi-finals, and have the FA Cup to add to their workload.
In short, they are going to need to use every available player in their squad in the new year, and Kehrer’s versatility may come in handy.
Having said that, there are areas of the squad that need adding to and Kehrer is clearly not in favour with manager David Moyes, so the news should be welcomed by West Ham supporters.
Kehrer, who arrived from Paris Saint-Germain in August 2022, has yet to start a game in the Premier League this season, making just three appearances from the bench.
He has played in a couple of League Cup fixtures and four times in the Europa League, so has been a useful squad player this term.
But the stats show that he is not a player who will be overly missed. According to FBREF, measured against full-backs in Europe’s top-five leagues over the past year, Kehrer ranks only in the 33rd percentile for tackles per 90 minutes (1.68), and 12th for blocks (0.80).
He is only in the 23rd percentile for progressive passes (3.15) and as low as fourth percentile for progressive carries (0.87).
Part of that can obviously be attributed to what Moyes expects of his full-backs, but the truth is that the boss clearly doesn’t rate Kehrer, who wants to playing regularly to make Germany’s Euro 2024 squad on home soil next summer.
If the Hammers can gain a bit of cash and use it to spend on other areas then it should be a no-brainer to sell in January.
In other West Ham news, the Hammers are leading the race for Chelsea ace Armando Broja.