West Ham ready Kaelan Casey action amid Swansea City frustrations
Nuno Espirito Santo may need to bolster his centre-back options this month.
West Ham beat QPR 2-1 in the third round of the FA Cup on Sunday, but it was a result overshadowed by a serious injury to Konstantinos Mavropanos.
The Greek defender was stretchered off the field just before half-time, after appearing to suffer a head injury following a collision with a QPR players’ knee.
West Ham’s win over QPR wasn’t a convincing one, and won’t have done much to relieve the pressure on Nuno.
However, what it may well have done is sidelined one of their preferred central defenders for a considerable amount of time, and thus could potentially force West Ham to reinforce their depth in that position this month.
West Ham consider Kaelan Casey recall
Nuno switched to a back three against QPR, and given his side were able to get a win, albeit over a Championship team, he may well feel inclined to stick with this approach moving forward.
However, playing three centre-backs requires a sufficient amount of depth in that position, otherwise, it’s simply not a viable strategy in terms of fitness and injury cover.
But, in a report from Wales Online writer Tom Coleman via X on Monday, it is claimed that West Ham are looking into the possibility of recalling young centre-back Kaelan Casey from his loan spell with Championship outfit Swansea City.
Casey, 21, has made just eight second tier appearances for the Swans so far this season, starting just three of those with a mere 290 minutes of league football under his belt, and West Ham are disappointed.
It’s understood that West Ham aren’t satisfied with that, but no final decision has yet been reached on what to do with the England youth international.
Casey could find more opportunities back at West Ham
Should West Ham summon him back to the London Stadium, they would then have the option of loaning him back out given that he’s not played a competitive minute for them this season.
For any young player, regular minutes are vital to their development, and so it would be a tough decision to weigh up.
- Casey has made 13 total appearances in all competitions for Swansea
- He’s registered one assist in the Championship
- Casey has made three first-team appearances for West Ham
But, given Mavropanos’ injury, depth concerns and the possibility that he could become a key first-team player for them if they are relegated to the Championship this season, then bringing Casey back into the fold and giving him regular football like what they’ve been doing with Ollie Scarles, could prove to be a very shrewd move indeed.
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