Reports suggest that Fabián Balbuena has already decided he wants to move this summer when his current contract expires re3gardless of whether he is offered a new one by West Ham or not.
The Paraguayan defender joined from Corinthians for £3.6m in 2018 under Manuel Pellegrini and is said to favor a move back to Brazil.
Rio de Janeiro-based Flamengo are one of the clubs thought to be keen, along with Internacional, a Saudi Arabian outfit and a team from Major League Soccer.
David Moyes may already have Balbeuna’s replacement lined up in the form of Frederick Alves.
The £1.2m Danish international joined the Hammers in January for £1.2m but is he said to be already impressing the manager who has included him on the senior bench three times in recent games.
A report suggested he could be ready for his senior break through next season but could have a few minutes on the pitch this season to make his Premier League debut.
Don’t really want Balbuena to move away. Isn’t it nice to have the luxury of being in the position to prepare Alves for next season with minutes of experience as this season tails off? Just don’t crucify David Moyes for giving the new lads a chance when he does.
COYI
Or it might be that Winston Reid is our insurance should Balbuena have to leave us. Makes sense. Alves gets the chance to understudy a role model and we get instant quality. Wins all around.
COYI
Great to see promising young players in the squad and hopefully will get some playing time this season. Would love to see Alves and Johnson getting valuable first team appearances. With them and Diopp plus Benrahma we can grow a nucleus – what about Holland – ready? Ideal time with our superb seniors and the team spirit. COYI
Can’t blame Balbuena he is not a regular and thats not through any fault of his own just the way the squad has worked out and he has been a bit unfortunate imho because he is an excellent defender, we have a few of them, hopefully Oggy will be back soon, we miss him.
I think it would be good timing for everyone even though I really like Balbuena.I think it is also a good time for Reid to leave this summer. We will then be left with Diop, Alves and Ogbonna which would indicate we need to sign at least one additional CH. I would not be against resigning Dawson but I believe we should look at alternatives before we commit to Dawson. Perhaps we will see the need to sign two CH’s in the event that both Balbuena and Reid leave. I really think we need to sign a top CH who can sit in the middle of a back 3 with Diop one side and Ogbonna on the other side when we play with a back 3.
Dawson has at least 2-3 seasons left in him. Cahill is still looking good at nearly 36