A £17m crock?

According to Spanish media, the Irons are allegedly very close to signing the Real Betis centre-back Luiz Felipe.

The 26 year old is valued at £17 million and on paper he does look like he could be just the sort of player to add some steel to our defence.

According to Spanish outlet Mundo Deportivo, West Ham could announce a deal to sign Luiz Felipe as early as later this week.

He seems to tick all the boxes for our Supremo because (a) he is a defender and (b) he is a defender.

Seriously though, he appears to be useful as FBref tell us that In 23 La Liga outings for Betis last season, Felipe averaged 1.5 tackles, 1.2 interceptions, 4.3 clearances and 1.3 successful aerial duels per game . He also made 38.1 passes on average per match and has recorded an impressive completion rate of 85.5%

He has a reputation of being strong in the tackle and has an imposing physical presence about him

So far so good then

But much like the Andy Carroll we had a few years ago, he seems to have his own season ticket to the Physio table. In the last four and a half years, he has missed 56 games through injury. To put that into perspective; that is nearly two seasons off the pitch.

There is a world of difference between Spanish football and the hurly burly of the Premier League.

I would love to be proved wrong, but £17m for a potential crock… I don`t think so