West Ham have received an offer from Bologna for Angelo Ogbonna, according to the Daily Express.
The newspaper claimed via their print edition on Saturday [December 22, page 69] that the 30-year-old senior player has been the subject of a £9million from the Serie A club.
Ogbonna has featured in only five Premier League games for the Hammers so far this season, with a partnership of Issa Diop and Fabian Balbuena generally being preferred by Manuel Pellegrini.
The Italian international, who signed for the Irons from Juventus in 2015, has made 13 appearance for his country since making his debut seven years ago.
It is also understood that Valencia are interested in taking the out of favour centre-back to Spain in the January transfer window.
Good move for West Ham?
Ogbonna has been a loyal servant for West Ham, and while he hasn’t always been a stellar performer, on the whole it is fair to say that he has been a decent signing. With the acquisitions of Diop and Balbuena, however, he has seen himself fall down the pecking order significantly. Declan Rice is also coming through, and will surely be preferred in defence rather than midfield when the Hammers’ injury crisis clears up. Ogbonna is surplus to requirements at a club that is beginning to stake its claim as a real power in the Premier League, and realistically they will be looking for players better than him to help them climb the table.
This is Futbol rating: 8/10
Likely to happen?
The Italian is 30 years old now, and while his experience could be important, chances are that West Ham will see an opportunity to shift him on while he is still relatively valuable. He’s not really needed, and if he were to go it could open up opportunities for rarely seen players with brighter futures such as Reece Oxford. There’s no obvious reason as to why Pellegrini would push to keep him and to would be no shock for the Irons to cash in while they still can.
This is Futbol rating: 8/10