OPINION
West Ham must forget about signing Craig Dawson.
The West Brom defender is not the answer to their need for squad reinforcements and attention must be centred on other areas of the pitch.
This comes after the Express and Star claimed today West Ham have had a £12million bid rejected for the Englishman, whose asking price has been set at £20million.
Sure, Dawson, 28, has plenty of Premier League experience and his versatility means he can provide cover at right-back as well as his favoured centre-back role.
But the Hammers are well served now for centre-backs after a blizzard of signings over the last week included Paraguay international Fabian Balbuena.
He joins £23million fellow new recruit Issa Diop, Angelo Ogbonna and Declan Rice in the shake-up for the central defender positions in the new season, a role unlikely to be filled by Winston Reid for some time after he was ruled out for three months.
It has been a brilliant window for West Ham so far, with smart business considerably improving the options for Manuel Pellegrini at right-back, central midfield and wide forward as well as centre-back.
But they don’t need another centre-half and would be far better off shelling out any remaining cash on a striker, especially if Javier Hernandez decides to quit within the next three weeks.
Dawson is a decent player but not who West Ham need right now and there is no need to ruin what has been a brilliant window so far with a foolish signing.