WHZ View: Phil Jones a big no-go for West Ham amid fresh transfer speculation
We’re getting close to a transfer window which means that speculation linking Phil Jones with a move to West Ham is being thawed out again.
According to EuroSport, the London Stadium is a potential destination for Jones, 28, in 2021 with Newcastle and Leicester also sniffing around the Manchester United outcast.
Jones was left out of Man United’s 25-man squad for the Premier League this season while the former Blackburn defender has also failed to appear in the Champions League or Carabao Cup for the Red Devils.
He also played just eight times in all competitions last season for Man United with his career at Old Trafford seemingly over.
Jones was linked with West Ham in the summer when The Independent reported that he and Jesse Lingard had emerged as transfer targets for David Moyes.
Although the Irons did go into the summer in need of defensive reinforcements, the fact that Craig Dawson eventually joined on loan from Watford and is yet to make a single matchday appearance speaks volumes about how Moyes has improved the players he already had at his disposal in East London.
And even though Moyes has shown he’s capable of improving defenders, we feel that Jones would be a lost cause and an almost pointless addition to a squad that’s performing above and beyond expectations in the Premier League.
West Ham have some of the best-performing centre-backs in the league at the moment.
According to stats by WyScout, Angelo Ogbonna ranks fourth in the Premier League for interceptions this season [73] with Fabian Balbuena at 10th [66].
Balbuena is fifth for defensive duels won [74.58%] with Aaron Cresswell coming in at 12th [70.69%].
Ogbonna, Balbuena and Cresswell are keeping Issa Diop and Dawson out of the team at the moment so why would Moyes need to add yet another centre-back to an area of his squad that is well-stocked and performing well?
EuroSport also reports Jones is earning £80,000-a-week at Man United. While it’s likely he will take a pay cut, we doubt that it would be enough of a cut to suggest signing the defender would be a good idea when you consider the last point we made.
Jones has had a torrid few years at Old Trafford.
He will be celebrating his 10th anniversary of signing for Man United at the end of the season but those celebrations are bound to be muted due to his current situation there.
While we hope that the once-promising England international will find himself a club where he plays regularly and can get his career back on track, we really don’t see that club being West Ham.
In other West Ham news, Frank McAvennie believes consistency has been the key to Balbuena’s form this season.