Our View: West Ham made a mistake selling James Tomkins to Crystal Palace for just £10 million in 2016

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West Ham sold James Tomkins to Crystal Palace in the summer of 2016.

The BBC reported the transfer fee at the time as £10 million.

Since the 30-year-old left east London, the Hammers have really struggled defensively. They have brought in Fabian Balbuena, Issa Diop over the past couple of years, but in truth, neither have been overly impressive.

West Ham have conceded 43 goals in 25 Premier League games this season – only three teams in the division have let in more.

Crystal Palace, meanwhile, have conceded just 32 in 26 games – the sixth best record in the Premier League.

And Tomkins has played a huge part in the Eagles’ defensive success this season.

So was it a mistake selling the 30-year-old?

In 18 Premier League games this season, Tomkins has made 29 tackles, 21 interceptions, 99 clearances and 42 headed clearances. He has also made 82 ball recoveries, and won two thirds of his 153 duals. The Basildon-born centre-back has won 60 aerial battles, scored zero own goals and has made no errors leading to goals for the opposition (premierleague.com).

Compare those stats to Balbuena’s for West Ham this season.

The Paraguayan has played 13 Premier League games for the Hammers. And in those outings, he has made 16 tackles and 60 clearances. He has won a lower percentage of duals and aerial battles than Tomkins. And he has made two errors leading to goals for the opposition (premierleague.com).

Now, we’re not for one minute saying the Tomkins was an elite centre-back. At West Ham, he was far from the quickest, but he had great positional sense, read the game superbly well, was strong in the air and always gave 100%.

One thing’s for certain, the 30-year-old would have been a better option for David Moyes than Fabian Balbuena this season.

Getting just £10 million for the centre-back now seems like somewhat of a mistake, especially considering how much it costs to buy a top class central defender in the current climate.

And perhaps West Ham should have just kept hold of Tomkins.