West Ham need to move on as ‘substantial fee’ now required to land Ian Maatsen after Thursday development
It appears a pretty badly kept secret that West Ham are still in the market for competition at left-back.
Several names were linked with a move to the London Stadium during the summer transfer window in what David Moyes evidently views as an area that can be improved.
Emerson Palmieri is the first-choice option on the left of defence, with the long-serving Aaron Cresswell – now 33 – likely to head for the exit door despite failing to secure a move in the summer.
One such player who was linked with a move to the club was 21-year-old Chelsea starlet Ian Maatsen, whose contract was due to expire at the end of the season.
That is until an update arrived from the Standard on Thursday (19), where it was revealed that Chelsea had “quietly activated” a clause in Maatsen’s contract to extend his deal until 2025.
The report added that Chelsea opted to take this route to stave off reported interest from LaLiga giants Barcelona, while the Hammers and Burnley – with whom he won promotion to the top flight on loan last season – are also mentioned as interested parties.
Now, any club wishing to sign Maatsen in January will “face paying a substantial fee” according to the Standard.
What that substantial fee would be no one is really sure but considering Burnley reportedly had a £31.5million bid accepted (the Standard, 1 September) for his services before the window closed, only for Maatsen to reject the switch, chances are it will not be pocket change involved.
West Ham did a lot of clever business after selling Declan Rice for £105m to Arsenal, with the money used to bring in Mohammed Kudus, Konstantinos Mavropanos, James Ward-Prowse, and Edson Alvarez.
But you feel as though there might be better value for money out there now that Chelsea have strengthened their hand with regards to Maatsen.
From a West Ham perspective, it is a move that now does really seem worth it and other options should be explored.
In other West Ham news, a supercomputer has predicted where the Hammers will finish in the Premier League this season.