Fabrizio Romano has dropped some January transfer news on Twitter regarding West Ham and Monaco ace Benoit Badiashile.
Hammers boss David Moyes has plenty of problems in the central defensive department at the moment.
Angelo Ogbonna is out for the season whilst Kurt Zouma won’t be back in action for another couple of weeks having sustained a hamstring tendon injury back in early December.
West Ham’s defence has been incredibly leaky over the past six weeks or so.
Our push for the top four is under real threat and Moyes would be very wise to bring in a top-class centre-back this month in order to tighten things up at the back.
It has been widely reported that Monaco ace Benoit Badiashile is someone who Moyes would like to bring to the London Stadium before the January transfer window slams shut (Foot Mercato).
The 20-year-old possesses everything that the Hammers need. Standing at 6ft 4in tall, the young Frenchman cuts an imposing figure. He’s incredibly strong in the air, is a commanding, authoritative figure at the back and is very quick along the ground.
It seems as though there could be a problem on the horizon for West Ham though…
Fabrizio Romano transfer news could affect West Ham
It seems as though the giant Monaco defender could be out injured for up to three weeks, having received the results from the medical team at Monaco:
If that is the case, it obviously changes everything for West Ham.
Now, David Moyes still needs to sign a centre-back. Angelo Ogbonna and Craig Dawson will be 34 and 32 respectively before the start of next season after all.
The Scot may well not be rushed into doing business this month, however, with Zouma allegedly set to be back in action within the next two weeks (Claret and Hugh).
That’s not to say that the Hammers shouldn’t be going all out to sign Badiashile. We undoubtedly should be. But perhaps Moyes might think it’s best to wait until the summer now to move for the Monaco ace, given the fact that he won’t be available to play until after Zouma has returned to action.
The smart thing to do would obviously be to sign he 20-year-old centre-back now while we can, given the amount of competition for his services.
We all know that’s not how West Ham work though.
The Frenchman could be available for around £25 million according to recent claims from French media outlet Foot Mercato.
With Romano’s latest update though, it is obvious to see that Moyes’s and more importantly David Sullivan’s transfer plans could well be affected this month.
If Zouma is indeed back for either the Leeds or Manchester United games, then we don’t expect any central defensive reinforcements to be made this month.
That’s not being negative…it’s just decades of experience in following the Hammers and the understanding of the way in which our owners have gone about their business over the past decade.
This January transfer window is a vitally important one for West Ham. We began the month in desperate need of signing a new striker and a high quality centre-back. Perhaps Moyes’s priority has shifted towards the addition of a centre-forward now though, with Zouma likely to return a lot sooner than was first expected.
The long-term plan should still be the same. Signing Badiashile would be a tremendously impressive move from West Ham. And he is someone we should be going all out to get.
After Romano’s claim about his injury, however, we won’t be expecting any transfer activity involving the Hammers and Monaco any time soon.
Fabrizio Romano is usually spot on with his transfer news. So we are clearly interested in the 20-year-old. This will be one that we should all be keeping a very close eye on as the transfer window continues to tick down…