West Ham United likely to sign defender next amid Thilo Kehrer and Matheus Nunes bids
There is “optimism” that West Ham will sign a defender next after David Moyes admitted bidding for midfielder Matheus Nunes, according to The Athletic.
The Scot confirmed that the Hammers had made an attempt to sign 23-year-old Sporting star, reported to be of £25million, but the player did not want to come, with the manager chasing midfield help after the long pursuit of Amadou Onana ended up falling apart.
Writing in The Athletic, Roshane Thomas said of the failure of the bid: “The Nunes rejection is a blow, as he would have fit the bill for Moyes.”
The Irons are also dealing with an injury crisis in central defence, with Nayef Aguerd, Angelo Ogbonna and Craig Dawson all currently unavailable, and it appears the next man through the door will be to address that with the move for Paris Saint-Germain’s Thilo Kehrer still developing.
Thomas wrote: “There is some optimism the next arrival will be a defender. West Ham’s initial offer of €12million (£10.1m, $12.3m) for Kehrer was rejected by PSG, but the 25-year-old has one year remaining on his contract and the clubs are in talks.”
Priorities
It would be nice if West Ham did bring in another midfielder before the window shuts, and it’s a huge shame that it won’t be Onana after the 20-year-old’s action packed late cameo for Everton on Saturday afternoon (13 August).
The young star would have capped off the window if the club had not balked at his wage demands and let him walk away.
They have been dealt a rough hand with the terrible injury luck in defence however, having completed the business that they intended in that area by signing Moroccan international Aguerd, and selling Issa Diop.
But it is now a big problem so it should be there that more effort is put in first, and Kehrer looks like the man who is the top target.
He is almost certainly on the way out of the Parc des Princes so it should theoretically be fairly straight forward, but the French champions aren’t ready to let unwanted players go easily, and the player wants to make sure he can go to the World Cup.
The offer from the Hammers isn’t insultingly low but may need to be raised slightly to get this one over the line, and the longer it drags on the more games go by without a settled defensive line.