Reports that West Ham are preparing a second bid for Besiktas defender Domagoj Vida are wide of the mark.
A previous report suggested that West Ham had already made a €25m (£22m) offer which was turned down by the Turkish outfit in recent weeks but club insiders at the time denied those claims saying there was no interest. Monaco have since swooped in with a bid of €30m (£26.7m) which has also reportedly been rejected by Besiktas.
Now Turkish newspaper Fanatik claim the Hammers are preparing to re-enter discussions and submit an improved offer but club insiders again say that the centre back position is not a priority for Manuel Pellegrini who is happy with the options of Issa Diop, Fabian Balbuena, Angelo Ogbonna and Declan Rice in the centre of the defence.
The suggestion that we are about to spend £30m on another defender while having other priority positions unfilled after spending over £100m is quite far-fetched.
Agree Sean, Ogbonna is imho a better defender than this guy also, he is fully committed in a Croatia shirt but nothing exceptional at club level, Laxalt at left back is the player we should be paying the money for or I was thinking we should seriously consider Fabian Delph from City, he has the versatility he can cover left back but is an excellent defensive midfielder that is also a captain on the field, if he has real England ambitions he should move on from City to play every game.
That’s right. Vida is one of those players who raise their level in certain environments, but become almost invisible in others.
As for Laxalt, yes yes and yes. I have been saying it for over a month.
We have 4 good CH options so it is good to hear this so lets move on from this and start focusing on what we need to do now in the next few weeks. On the “INs” we need a DM, a no 10 and a striker. On the “OUTs” we need to start clearing the decks asap to make room for these signings. The players I would definitely be open to offers are Byran, Fernandez, Cullen, Snodgrass, Obiang, Hugil, Martinez, Hernandez, and Cresswell (if we signed the lad from Bristol City).
Sean, what are our priority positions that we are looking at ?
To be honest I like the look of Balbuenna, has that ‘Christian Daily flair’ about him
Reports of Wilshire were wide of the mark too so I wouldn’t rule anything or anybody out at this stage.
Already signed two c/def’s so doubt we need another one. Any remaining funds would be better spent on a quality striker or reliable defensive midfielder and it would be sensible to get them via loans or free transfers ( if suitable players available).