Hammers view: West Ham must break the bank to sign Max Aarons in the summer
West Ham are interested in signing Norwich City right-back Max Aarons in the summer for a fee understood to be in the region of £30m.
As we reported recently, the Hammers are keen on signing the young English full-back, and Norwich are in a position to part ways with the player.
Despite securing promotion, the Canaries will be willing to accept the £30m bid should they receive it, and it’s understood Aarons would like to remain in the south – making this a perfect opportunity for West Ham to secure his services.
At West Ham Zone we take a look at why David Moyes is keen on signing the highly-rated Norwich right-back.
Aarons is young, pacey and has a good turn on him – making him a tricky customer to defend against.
In the stills below, you can see how he gets past his man with ease.
Watford left-back Adam Masina is closing Aarons down hoping that he fumbles his first touch and can then hit the Canaries on the break.
But Aarons controls it comfortably before turning his back on the Watford defender to create room for himself to dribble down the right touchline.
He then easily knocks the ball past Masina to set up a phenomenal attacking opportunity for his side. His cross eventually finds Emiliano Buendia whose shot narrowly misses the frame.
In this scenario against Barnsley, Aarons has two approaching opposition with the third blocking his passing lane.
Knowing that his only option is to beat the man and also ensure the ball doesn’t go out of play, Aarons attempts the take on.
Keeping the ball in play by inches, Aarons beats his man and takes advantage of his frame to steal a march on him.
He then cuts inside and plays the ball centrally, putting seven of Barnsley’s ten outfielders out of the game.
While he’s a menace going forward, his defensive abilities cannot be discounted. Being a full-back, he averages an impressive 3.33 blocks per 90 minutes. [StatsBomb]
In comparison, Vladimir Coufal averages just 2.21 while Aaron Creswell offers 1.46. Masuaku, who doesn’t play primarily as a full-back, is at an impressive 3.15.
Because of Aarons’ tendency to overlap wingers and bomb forward, one could forget just how reliable he is when the team’s sitting deep and soaking the pressure.
Below, Bournemouth’s Arnaut Danjuma looks all set to score and add to his tally in the game. But, Aarons make a phenomenal recovery run in the nick of time.
He then throws himself to the ground to prevent the Bournemouth winger from having a clean shot at goal.
A perfectly timed challenge sees the referee award a corner while Danjuma and the other Bournemouth players protested for a penalty. Aarons timed the ball perfectly to bail his side out.
While £30m may seem steep for a 21-year-old it’s important to note that he’s a player that’s been on Barcelona and Bayern’s radar for over a year.
Now that they seemed to have moved on, the Hammers are in a perfect position to seal the deal.
He will be an investment for the future along with being an upgrade on Coufal. He’s good at playing whipped crosses which is something our current crop of strikers would love receiving.
Even Norwich boss Daniel Farke waxed lyrical about Aarons last month. He said, “I told him we can reject this label now because he is no longer one of the best young players — he is one of the best players.
“He is so young and he has to improve, and he will, but what he has done in the past two years is amazing. I cannot praise him enough.”
Aarons is a player with a bit of fight and personality in him, and with the correct guidance, he could be one of the league’s top full-backs in a few years.
In other West Ham news, the Irons have been told the price to sign a ‘sensational’ ace who tops chart in top-five leagues.
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