West Ham United ones to ‘Keep an eye on’ in transfer race for Manchester City star Kalvin Phillips – Ben Jacobs
Ben Jacobs believes West Ham are dark horses in the race to sign Manchester City midfielder Kalvin Phillips after sources denied they want high loan fees to do a deal.
Writing on his personal Twitter account (17 January), the reliable journalist reports that City are open to doing a deal to structure all parties and expect a deal to be done due to the volume of interest.
And Jacobs mentioned the Hammers as a team to “keep an eye on” in the race although they face competition from several clubs to get a deal over the line this month.
“Kalvin Phillips still expected to leave Manchester City before the window shuts,” he wrote.
“Sources firmly deny Manchester City are insisting on an obligation to buy or that loan fee demands are too high. Understand City are actually open to a deal structure to suit all parties and relaxed because even a straight loan will help gain Phillips minutes and raised value come summer.
“Keep an eye on West Ham. Everton and Atletico Madrid have enquired. Roy Hodgson has also confirmed Palace’s interest.
“Newcastle have long-admired Phillips meaning a move still can’t be ruled out, but other clubs more active in recent days. Juventus the only team to date to actually table a formal bid. Phillips, and Man City, still expect a solution before the window shuts due to the volume of interest.”
Interesting
Midfield is an interesting position for West Ham right now because there is great depth in that area of the pitch, but the manager insists on playing everyone together.
The strongest team usually sees all of Edson Alvarez, James Ward-Prowse, Tomas Soucek and Lucas Paqueta starting, which means the back-up options are usually people playing in their secondary positions like Pablo Fornals.
Bringing in Phillips would bring added quality and depth to the squad, but would also allow Moyes to drop one of the previously mentioned players and have them as an option on the bench to bolster things.
He has great quality on the ball, great defensive awareness but is also an offensive threat as he can produce moments of magic too, which could be the difference later in the season in the bigger and tougher games.
There’s clearly great interest in him from a lot of other clubs, but there is a history with our interest so it could end up playing in our favour if he has a decision to make.
In other West Ham news, Hammers want to sign PL striker with club now open to sale according to David Ornstein.
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