West Ham have joined the race for out-of-favour Chelsea midfielder Danny Drinkwater, according to the Mirror.
This follows a TeamTalk report that said Leicester were looking to bring him back in a £20million deal, with Chelsea willing to take a £15million hit on the player they only signed last summer.
The Mirror report claims that despite spending £108million this summer, Manuel Pellegrini and Director of Football Mario Husillos still think their squad is short in the middle and up front.
Drinkwater’s name has come into the frame after Barcelona’s Andre Gomes was injured in their pre-season friendly against Tottenham last week.
He is currently on £90k-a-week at Chelsea, according to Total Sportek.
Good move for West Ham?
Drinkwater’s move to Chelsea was seen as odd at the time. Yes, he helped Leicester win the Premier League in that infamous run, but no one outside of Stamford Bridge thought he was good enough to compete for a first-team place regularly at Chelsea, with N’Golo Kante in their side. And that turned out to be the case. Drinkwater played no more than a bit part at Chelsea last season and he wants to move to get his career back on track. He would be a solid player for West Ham and give Pellegrini the strength that he wants in the middle, but it’s not a move that’s going to electrify the supporters. That could change when they see what he could add. We think he’d be a good buy and a brilliant loan deal if they could pull it off.
This is Futbol rating: 8/10
Likely to happen?
It had been said that West Ham weren’t going to spend any more money after a stunning net spend this summer. Pellegrini was going to try and strengthen the squad, but with loanees and free agents, and it might be difficult to convince Chelsea to loan if other teams are willing to buy. However, if there is any cash left, Drinkwater would represent a bargain at £20million and he would shore up the West Ham team in the middle. He has no future at Chelsea and while he might fancy a return to Leicester, a West Ham switch would mean he could stay in London. It’s possible but a long shot at the moment.
This is Futbol rating: 3/10