West Ham United insider ExWHUemployee has claimed that the club may be interested in Manchester City defender Nathan Ake this January, but a deal is not close.
Up to this point in the season, David Moyes and co are performing brilliantly in the Premier League and currently sit in the Champions League places as a result.
However, things may be set to get a little more complicated in the coming weeks due to some significant defensive injuries. With Angelo Ogbonna already likely to miss the rest of the season, it has now been confirmed that Kurt Zouma will be out for months after suffering a hamstring tendon injury against Chelsea.
With that in mind, it would make sense for West Ham to look into signing a new defender this January. While discussing the topic on The West Ham Way podcast, ExWHUemployee explained that after the club were linked with the £28.8m-rated Ake in the past week (via 90min), the defender ‘fits the bill’ in terms of what the Hammers would be looking for.
He said: “Another player that came out in the week, in terms of being linked to us, is Nathan Ake, the Dutch centre-back at Man City.
“Now, again, West Ham have been linked with him before. He is a player that we’ve talked about on the show, of us having an interest in.
“He fits the bill of what we want for a centre-back, as in he’s a centre-back with pace and ability in the air, but he is also left-footed – that being the key credential.”
However, he then concluded: “At the moment, I wouldn’t say that that’s a close deal.”
TIF Thoughts on Nathan Ake and West Ham…
One thing that may restrict any move for Ake is the fact that he only joined Man City in August 2020, when he set them back a reported £40m.
With the defender costing so much and having only been with his current club for just over a season, it seems unlikely that City would let him go for a fee significantly less than what they paid.
Should West Ham go for Nathan Ake this January?
Yes
No
This may be an issue for West Ham as they spent big on Zouma in the summer, paying Chelsea close to £30m for his services. However, if they really want to push for a spot in the Champions League next season and maintain their strong form after Christmas, the Hammers may well have to splash the cash once more.
With January less than a month away, it will be interesting to see how Moyes approaches the transfer market.
In other news: ‘That’s what the club think’ – Ex drops promising West Ham injury claim