Where West Ham stand as manager speaks out on 'outstanding' summer target Dylan Lawlor
West Ham United were unable to sign Cardiff City's Dylan Lawlor this summer.
The Hammers were fixated on having a strong defence ahead of a promotion push to get back into the Premier League, and worked hard to ensure that was the case in the summer window.
They signed Morato on loan from Nottingham Forest, while also managing to keep Konstantinos Mavropanos in East London.
Max Kilman has started to perform well under Nuno Espirito Santo, while Ezra Myers also offers cover if needed.
However, the Irons set out some top targets at the start of the summer, some of which they were unable to bring to E20.
One of them was Lawlor, and the reasons why West Ham couldn't land the defender have now come clear.
Brian Barry-Murphy speaks on Dylan Lawlor promise after West Ham interest
West Ham had an early interest in Lawlor after he impressed while helping get Cardiff promoted to the Championship last season.
The 20-year-old has been sidelined with a muscle injury recently, and only made his first Championship appearance of the season in Cardiff's 3-1 win over Charlton Athletic on 19 September.
The Hammers were said to be keen on the Wales international, who also had admirers at German giants Bayern Munich.
Speaking about Lawlor, Cardiff boss Brian Barry-Murphy has revealed why he thinks the youngster stayed put with the Bluebirds.
He said, as quoted by the Daily Mail: "Lawlor was outstanding last season. It's no secret he had many suitors over the summer. He has the potential to play at the very highest level.
"He's a very humble guy with a passion to play for Cardiff. I feel that every single day, it's incredible.
"We were confident he would stay because we backed up what we said to him at the start of last season about playing so many games."
Several highly-rated talents performed well for the Bluebirds last season, including Lawlor, and interest was rife not just for the centre-back.
The Cardiff boss stated that the opportunities are the club's biggest pulling factor when it comes to keeping their young talent.
That said, given Lawlor's passion for Cardiff and starting XI guarantees, it's clear why a move for West Ham was always going to be difficult.
As things stand, then, West Ham do not have a chance of signing Lawlor right now - but that could easily change next summer.
What could Lawlor offer West Ham in the future?
Though West Ham have arguably the best defence in the Championship, they are light in numbers.
They are one Mavropanos injury away from having Morato and Kilman feature with no real senior cover behind them.
That's where Lawlor could have come in handy, but the defender was always clearly set on prioritising first-team matches.
But the Hammers have done their scouting, and will know that the centre-back offers incredible ball-playing ability and athleticism for a player in his position.
West Ham could return for Lawlor in the future, perhaps once he has a season or two of Championship football under his belt, as the Welshman looks destined for the Premier League at some point in his career.