West Ham United: David Moyes could pull off another masterstroke with Malick Thiaw signing
West Ham have reportedly made a move to sign Malick Thiaw from AC Milan in the January transfer window.
According to Sky Sport transfer expert Manuele Baiocchini on Friday (13 October), as per Milan News, the Hammers have already tabled a bid for the Germany international.
The links with Thiaw come fresh on the back of speculation that Kurt Zouma could be heading for Saudi Arabia early in the new year [90min, 12 October].
Losing Zouma would be a blow for David Moyes, of course, as the Frenchman has been an everpresent at the back this term and was recently named captain.
With just 18 months left on his contract come January, however, and no suggestions of fresh terms being offered, it may make sense to part ways.
Konstantinos Mavropanos was brought in during the summer and can fill the void, but Moyes will no doubt want another centre-back snapped up.
In Thiaw, they have a young yet experienced player who has played 52 times in Serie A and the Bundesliga and been capped twice for Germany at senior level.
The 22-year-old has started nine of Milan’s 10 Serie A and Champions League games this season, helping his side to five clean sheets.
In the 1-0 win over Genoa prior to the international break, Thiaw won a game-high five aerial duels, registered a joint-high four clearances and completed 90.3% of his passes [WhoScored].
In fact, across the 2023-24 season to date, Thiaw’s 92.8 pass-completion return is the seventh highest of any player in Serie A [FBref]. For context, Zouma has completed 81.9% of his passes for West Ham in the Premier League this season.
Thiaw is not just comfortable in possession, either – he also wins more of his aerial duels than Zouma (75% v 60.6%), wins more tackles per 90 minutes (1.18 v 0.75) and recovers the ball more times per 90 (4.71 v 3.63) [FBref].
This is not to say Zouma is past it – indeed, the defender is having a good campaign and Moyes would rather not lose him.
But if the defender was to end his association with West Ham next year, then Thiaw seems a great option to come in as a replacement.
In other West Ham news, another first-team regular could be heading for the London Stadium exit in 2024.