West Ham United must halt Aaron Wan-Bissaka interest after transfer developments
West Ham United and David Moyes’ pursuit of right-back Aaron Wan-Bissaka in the January transfer window have hit a massive stumbling block, following a report from Simon Stone.
Despite moving to Old Trafford for a huge £45million fee in 2019, the former England Under-21 star has fallen out of favour at Manchester United in the last 18 months, with Diego Dalot condemning him to a permanent spot on the bench.
And according to transfer guru Fabrizio Romano, the Hammers opened talks with the right-back about a potential loan move in the New Year as a direct replacement for the exit-bound Vladimir Coufal.
But fresh reports emerging on Friday (30 December) hinted that Wan-Bissaka could still have a role to play under Erik ten Hag, as the manager spoke to BBC Sport journalist Stone.
He tweeted: “Erik ten Hag on Wan Bissaka: ‘First, you have to be on the pitch and in first half of season he was either injured or ill so you don’t have a role in squad. Break was good for him. Now he has played two games and is doing really well. We needed the competition in the squad’.”
This update from the United boss may have put a halt to Moyes’ pursuits of the right-back, who seemed the ideal antidote for his leaky back-four.
However, with Ten Hag supposedly keen on keeping Wan-Bissaka at the club in January, the Hammers must move on and look at other viable alternatives.
Celtic defender Josip Juranovic could prove a good option after the right-back’s impressive form in the 2022/23 season so far. With Champions League experience also under his belt, the Croatian international would be a ready-made replacement for Coufal in East London.
With Ben Johnson and Thilo Kehrer having had to fill in as emergency right-backs this season due to the lack of options, West Ham United must sort this predicament out in the January transfer window.