The Hammers are interested in signing Lille’s teenage defender Benjamin Pavard according to French website Mercato 365.
The 19-year-old has come up through the Lille youth system after joining the French club at the age of just nine. Pavard has now broken through to the Lille first-team, making five league appearances so far this season.
Pavard is versatile, capable of playing all across the back four, having featured at left back, centre back and right back for Lille during his short career so far.
The versatile defender who can cover in a number of positions might interest West Ham considering the contracts of James Collins and Joey O’Brien expire next summer. Pavard may not be the finished article just yet, but he appears to have lots of potential. He is part of the French Under 21 team and a number of Premier League scouts were present when the France U21 team beat Northern Ireland U21 1-0 last Thursday in the Euro qualifiers.