Fabrizio Romano: Thilo Kehrer completes West Ham United move
West Ham have completed the signing of Paris Saint-Germain centre-back Thilo Kehrer on a permanent deal, according to Fabrizio Romano.
The club had been locked in negotiations with the French champions for some time over a player with a year left on his contract and surplus to requirements at the Parc des Princes.
But after the German international arrived in London it was thought the move was imminent and it appears all the final hurdles have now been cleared.
Romano wrote on his personal Twitter account on Wednesday morning (17 August), as an add-on to a post about a separate transfer: “Meanwhile, Thilo Kehrer completes his move to West Ham on permanent deal from PSG.”
An injury crisis at the London Stadium has left David Moyes with only Kurt Zouma as a fit natural option at centre-back so the move for a solution was a priority.
Finally
Getting this deal done in good time, on Wednesday morning, should give the club plenty of room to have the 25-year-old ready for the weekend’s game against Brighton on Sunday (21 August).
After two defeats to open the year the manager needs everything he can get his hands on to kickstart the Premier League campaign.
Whether the defender will be rushed into the squad for the Europa Conference League qualifier on Thursday night against Viborg is less clear.
The Hammers would presumably feel more comfortable in that game, especially with the Danish club missing key players thanks to immigration regulations.
Getting Kehrer up to speed for the weekend is surely the priority at this stage, and potentially adding Emerson Palmieri from Chelsea in that time as well.
The centre-back’s deal turned out to be more difficult than would likely have been expected for a player so clearly on his way out of the Ligue 1 giants, but it has got there in the end.
Now all West Ham have to do is hope that he avoids the sort of injury luck that their last answer at the position suffered in Nayef Aguerd.