Here’s exactly why West Ham didn’t sign Mats Hummels and it has nothing to do with John Egan

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West Ham United have officially missed out on the signing of Mats Hummels on a free transfer.

It was claimed that Mats Hummels emerged as a serious target for West Ham on Tuesday, after his move to Roma had seemingly collapsed.

However, West Ham missed out on Mats Hummels after he signed for Roma yesterday, as confirmed via AS Roma’s official website.

And as a result, free agent centre-back John Egan is now ‘being looked at’ by the Hammers, although a final decision has not yet been made.

Interest in the 31-year-old is quite the come-down from being linked with Hummels, but the Irishman will not necessarily be a bad signing.

That said, it goes without saying that I would have preferred the German World Cup winner to move to the London Stadium.

Now the real reason why we missed out on the 35-year-old has come to light.

Here’s exactly why West Ham didn’t sign Mats Hummels

Lopetegui has left himself very short in the centre-back department, after Kurt Zouma and Nayef Aguerd left the club.

That’s why the Spaniard is now scrambling around for a free agent to join his ranks.

It now looks like that man will be John Egan. But why didn’t the Hammers push harder for Hummels?

That has now become clear…

According to Calcio Mercato, Hummels actually rejected a move to the London Stadium, instead opting to join Roma.

So he rejected us, rather than the other way around. That seems fair enough, and now we just have to hope that Egan proves himself to be a capable deputy for Max Kilman, Jean-Clair Todibo and Konstantinos Mavropanos.

John Egan a fine option for fourth choice

Egan is very aggressive in the tackle, plays with 100% commitment to the cause and is extremely reliable.

At the end of the day, the former Sheffield United defender will not be a regular starter.

In fact, he will only play if there is a severe injury crisis at the London Stadium or if Lopetegui wants to rest two of our key defenders at the same time.

He has played over 400 senior games at club level and is an Ireland international team regular.

Egan is a more than capable central defender, and has extensive experience of playing at a very high level over the past decade.

John Egan may well not be in the same class as Mats Hummels, but he’s just fine for what West Ham need right now.