Report: West Ham could re-ignite hunt for Marseille defender in January
Claret & Hugh has reported that West Ham could revive their interest in Marseille defender Duje Caleta-Car in the January transfer window if the Ligue 1 club crashes out of the Champions League.
The Hammers news website reports that in the last transfer window, the Irons had hoped to sign Caleta-Car, 24, for a deal worth £25million before the player turned them down.
The Croatia international told RMC Sport last month that he did reject the chance to join a Premier League club but opted to stay at Marseille to play in the Champions League.
However, after three matches, Marseille are rooted to the bottom of Group C in the Champions League having lost all three of their matches so far.
Caleta-Car may change his tune about not wanting to head to the Premier League if he doesn’t have the chance to play in Europe after Christmas at Marseille while Claret & Hugh adds that the Ligue 1 club are keen to balance their books and being dumped out of Europe is only going to worsen their financial situation.
David Moyes strengthened his defensive options last month by signing Craig Dawson on a season-long loan from Watford.
Dawson, 30, is yet to play for the Hammers or even make one of Moyes’ matchday squads due to his side’s strong form in the Premier League.
Moyes has opted to play a back-three of Fabian Balbuena, Angelo Ogbonna and Aaron Cresswell in recent weeks while West Ham also have Issa Diop ahead of Dawson in the pecking order.
Caleta-Car is an international centre-back with Champions League experience so you would assume he might jump above some of West Ham’s existing defenders in the pecking order if he does arrive at the London Stadium in January.
But as the Irons have started the season brightly, who’s to say that Moyes will even want to spend in January or that David Sullivan and David Gold will allow him?
West Ham have been so inconsistent over the last few years that it would be nice to see the side we’ve got right now see out the season, secure a spot in the top-half and maybe challenge for the European places or the FA Cup.
In other West Ham news, Xande Silva impressed on his debut for loan club Aris.