David Ornstein: West Ham United now make approach for mystery defender as late January transfer lined up
West Ham United have made a few enquiries in the January transfer window about a loan deal for a “versatile” defender, according to David Ornstein.
The Athletic journalist shared on the Sky Sports Transfers Talk podcast (24 January) that the defence could likely be an area that David Moyes and technical director Tim Steidten could look to strengthen after the Kalvin Phillips deal.
The Manchester City midfielder is likely to complete his loan move to the London Stadium by the weekend but Ornstein moots that he may not be the only player walking through the West Ham doors before the transfer deadline.
The Hammers have been linked with Chelsea centre-back Trevoh Chalobah (talkSPORT, 9 January) and young Peterborough defender Ronnie Edwards (Mail on Sunday, 7 January, page 100) this month.
Ornstein said: “There is question about the attacking department and also in defence, I’ve heard they’ve made a few enquiries about a loan deal for a versatile defender so perhaps it’s an area of the pitch on David Moyes’ mind.”
Upgrades needed
The Hammers have done brilliantly to convince Phillips to join the Moyes revolution in East London with the Manchester City star certainly adding star power to the squad.
However, there is a case to argue that there are positions in the squad that desperately need addressing rather than midfield and that’s in attack and defence.
With Michail Antonio out injured, Danny Ings is the only senior striker which leaves the club well short of options in the position but the defence may need some telling upgrades soon enough too.
Angelo Ogbonna is on his last legs in East London and cannot be relied upon to feature regularly at the top level while there are also injury concerns regarding Kurt Zouma who can’t play two games in a week any longer.
Also, there’s the issue of Nayef Aguerd’s future to deal with too with the Moroccan heavily linked with an exit for several months now.
Konstantinos Mavropanos has endured his on-and-off spells in a West Ham shirt but still needs time to bed himself at the club given he only joined last summer.
It remains to be seen whether the Irons can strengthen the position this month but will desperately need to address it this summer if they’re to reach the next level both domestically and in Europe.
In other West Ham news, the stance of another Premier League player who has been linked with the club has been revealed.
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