West Ham United’s scouting network is alive and well despite the obvious absences from key appointments in the boardroom. At least, that’s the inference from a new report today that claims the Hammers are looking at a young talented defender from across the pond as they seek to put bodies in the squad ahead of the Championship kick off.
Both Ipswich Town – newly promoted back to the Premier League, remember, and West Ham United are looking at a promising Ghanaian from the US MLS after an impressive couple of seasons. At least, that’s the claim of footballinsider247.com who write:
“Manu Duah wanted by West Ham and Ipswich after rapid rise at San Diego”…
“West Ham and Ipswich have both been running the rule over the defender this year.
defender on the up and up – Ghana’s Manu Duah
He has featured 17 times for San Diego so far in their 2026 campaign, while they sit 10th in the MLS Western Conference as it stands. Ipswich are looking to bolster their defensive options following promotion to the Premier League, while West Ham need a new centre-back to lead their Championship promotion charge.
Duah could be on the move to English football this summer after emerging as one of the most highly-rated young centre-backs in the US”
As a budget option, Duah makes a lot of sense but as a first team replacement for Axel Disasi, most likely West Ham will have other, more experienced players in mind: Hence the links, no doubt, to crocked veteran Adam Webster as covered a few days ago.
Compared with the 31 year old who hasn’t played in over a year, the links to the 21 year old Ghanaian are a breath of fresh air and certainly the direction of travel which most supporters would like to see again at West Ham after years of recruiting players at, or near the end of their careers.
An awful lot to be completed in just six weeks. Good that there’s evidence of work going on behind the scenes, even though there’s little outward sign of progress with appointments from the boardroom.
This sort of highlights a major problem at WHU for the upcoming season. Do WHU rebuild by getting in talented Manu Duah with great potential or instead, choose Webster to have the best chance of bouncing back immediately? Unless can afford both.
If want to keep all players (bar Fernandes) rather than only 4-6 core players who really showed fighting/team spirit & ability, then you are keeping players who often did not show enough fight or who see the club only as a stepping stone.
Anyhow, can talk of a major rebuild as much as one likes, but a lot depends on whether youth players of real quality are available, successfully scouted and then recruited and how ready Academy players are for the Championship. Ideally they could also potentially reach PL level relatively quickly – realistically this is unlikely and we can expect quite a bit of recruitment over several coming seasons.
So maybe a gradual rebuild over seasons is the most realistic way of planning ahead for the club. Bouncing back is an easy sell, a brave statement everyone will applaud but do not want to be a yo-yo club either. Sunderland & Leeds managed to stay up with a blend of youth & experience, but they had many seasons to get it right.