View: West Ham should sign Marseille defender Duje Caleta-Car in £12.8million summer swoop
Duje Caleta-Car, according to The Athletic [p8], will apparently be available to buy this summer for just 15million Euros [£12.8million] and that means West Ham should be doing all they can to sign the 24-year-old.
During the last summer transfer window, the Irons reportedly made a bid for the Marseille man but they failed in their efforts to sign him [L’Equipe]. However, Caleta-Car looks like he could be available, and it is time for the Hammers to strike.
The Croatian international has been described as a player who will “explode” in a few years by Dejan Lovren [La Provence] and has vast amounts of experience, featuring in the Champions League during the 2020/21 campaign for Marseille.
This could come in handy considering that the Hammers are in the Europa League for the upcoming season.
Caleta-Car is also rather tall at 6’4, and given West Ham’s effectiveness from set-pieces during the last campaign, you would think this height could come in handy for both attacking and defending set-pieces.
In terms of statistics, when compared with West Ham’s other defenders, Caleta-Car averaged 2.5 aerial duels won, which was only fewer than Craig Dawson [WhoScored].
He also made 3.9 clearances per game, which would rank him in fourth-place in the West Ham squad. His passing was exemplary as he achieved a pass success rate of 86.1%, which was better than any other West Ham centre-back [WhoScored].
So, there are a lot of things in his favour and given our requirement for a new centre-back this summer, following Fabian Balbuena’s departure, a move for the big Croatian would make total sense for the Irons.
It remains to be seen exactly what happens with Caleta-Car, but for the fee Marseille want, it would be a surprise if the club were not all over this one.
In other West Ham news, ESPN have revealed a major update that impacts Declan Rice and Jesse Lingard.
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