Mats Hummels is apparently under strong consideration to become a new West Ham United player.
West Ham have reportedly moved into contention to sign Mats Hummels, after it was initially believed that he was all set to join Roma.
According to Gianluca Di Marzio, Hummels’ proposed move to join Roma has collapsed at the final stages of negotiations.
And that has left the door wide open for Julen Lopetegui to bring the world-class free agent to West Ham.
The Hammers head coach is one centre-back short, after Kurt Zouma and Nayef Aguerd left the club on loan deals.
Hummels is a really exciting option for West Ham, given his quality and everything that he has achieved in the game.
However, there have been some suggestions that we don’t really need him. Why would the German join the Hammers to be nothing more than a backup option?
Real reason why Lopetegui wants Mats Hummels at West Ham
Links with a move for Hummels have been intensifying over the past 24 hours.
The mere fact that we’re even being linked with a player like the 35-year-old is a sign of just how far we’ve come as a club over the past few years.
However, would signing the German be overkill? For instance, will he be happy sitting on the bench most weeks, and maybe getting three or four starts throughout the season?
Listen, there’s absolutely no way that Hummels – a World Cup winning centre-back, someone who played in the Champions League final three months ago – will be willing to join the Hammers to serve as our fourth choice centre-back.
I think Lopetegui is thinking outside the box here, and actually has another plan up his sleeve.
Could the West Ham manager be planning to play a 3-4-3 system this season? I think so.
That would enable Lopetegui to use Hummels alongside Jean-Clair Todibo and Max Kilman at the heart of his defence.
Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Emerson Palmieri could then operate as wing-backs, either side of Edson Alvarez and Carlos Soler.
Then, Lopetegui could use Lucas Paqueta just in behind a front two of Jarrod Bowen and Mohammed Kudus.
Crysencio Summerville, Niclas Fullkrug and Michail Antonio can then fight to get into the team.
Meanwhile, Guido Rodriguez and Tomas Soucek can provide cover and competition in the middle of the park.
That’s a really exciting lineup if you ask me, and is clearly the real reason why Julen Lopetegui wants to bring Mats Hummels to West Ham on a free transfer.
Signing Hummels could take West Ham to another level
The super experienced defender has been a brilliant player for Borussia Dortmund, Bayern Munich and Germany throughout the past decade or so.
He has won pretty much everything there is to win in the game, with five Bundesliga titles, three DFB Pokals and a World Cup winner’s medal to his name.
Hummels is a world-class centre-back, and he has proven throughout his time in the game that there aren’t many better at what they do than him.
In 25 Bundesliga outings for Borussia Dortmund last season, he averaged 2.1 tackles, 1.3 interceptions, 3.2 clearances and 1.6 successful aerial duels per game
During those appearances, the 35-year-old made 56.4 passes on average per match and registered a completion rate of 89.3% (Who Scored).
If he is played as part of a back three, we would have one of the strongest central defensive units in the Premier League.
Signing Mat Hummels on a one-year deal should be an absolute no-brainer for West Ham in my opinion.
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