West Ham United are putting together quite the transfer window, with technical director Tim Steidten driven toward improving Julen Lopetegui's inherited squad ahead of a fight for European qualification.
Having finished ninth in the Premier League last season and crashed out of the Europa League in the quarter-finals against Bayer Leverkusen, West Ham failed to replicate the silver-laden success of David Moyes' penultimate year at the helm, but there is quality aplenty in east London.
And while uncertainty lingers around the future of Lucas Paqueta and several others, centre-back Max Kilman has been reunited with Lopetegui in a £40m deal, while 18-year-old winger Luis Guilherme has joined from Palmeiras in Brazil for £25.5m – he is regarded as a top talent, with scout Antonio Mango even proclaiming him an "unearthed diamond".
With Kurt Zouma and Nayef Aguerd both struggling to impress last season and being linked with a move away, United could return for another star in defence.
West Ham eyeing another defender
According to talkSPORT's Alex Crook earlier this week, West Ham could move for Chelsea's Trevoh Chalobah if one or both of the aforementioned are shipped on this year.
Chalobah has been omitted from Chelsea's pre-season tour and transfer-listed for around £30m, with new boss Enzo Maresca juggling a bloated defensive crop at Stamford Bridge.
West Ham are believed to be 'seriously considering' making their move for the 25-year-old, who has proven his dynamism and defensive solidity in the past and can operate both centrally and out wide.
What Trevoh Chalobah would bring to West Ham
Having graduated from Chelsea's Cobham Academy way back when, Chalobah has amassed 80 senior appearances for the Blues, scoring five goals. He's also completed three separate loan spells and has been hailed as the "future of this club" by former captain Thiago Silva in the past.
But his career has stagnated over the past two years, with injuries and Chelsea's staggering regression combining to place him firmly on the periphery, earning just 28 top-flight starting berths across the past two campaigns.
He did start all five of the final Premier League matches of the short-lived Mauricio Pochettino era, jumping between central defence and full-back with an air of assuredness that bespeaks his tactical intelligence and ability to thrive in different situations.
Indeed, despite missing a large portion of the 2023/24 campaign, Chalobah did triumph in showcasing his ball-playing acumen, ranking among the top 14% of positional peers across Europe's top five leagues over the past year for passes attempted per 90, as per FBref.
He completed 90% of his passes but, crucially, he also won 65% of his ground duels in the Premier League, as per Sofascore, highlighting the kind of steel he would bring to Lopetegui's rearguard.
Lopetegui employs a far more possession-heavy system than that of his predecessor, pressing high and striving to be on the ball with as much regularity as possible, as has been recently claimed by Vladimir Coufal.
Hailed as a "soldier" by Graham Potter, Chalobah could prove to be a massive upgrade on the exit-linked Kurt Zouma in that regard, who has not been brilliant over the past year and is seemingly incompatible at the start of a new era.
Square peg in a round hole? Zouma completed only 84% of his passes in the Premier League last year despite performing conservatively, with 0.1 key passes per game. Moreover, he only won 49% of his contested ground duels, highlighting the lack of authority that contributed to Moyes' side's uncharacteristically shoddy defending.
Things are changing in east London, and given that the Frenchman is entering the final year of his contract, it might be wise to cash in and replace him with a robust new option in Chalobah.
Move over Noussair Mazraoui
While Emerson Palmieri will expect to retain his regular starting role at left-back, with his 106 tackles the most from any defender in the Premier League last term, Coufal, 31, on the alternate, is unlikely to be the star on the right given the extensive efforts being made to identify a replacement.
Moroccan right-back Noussair Mazraoui was set to sign for around £16m but final terms have proved to be a sticking point despite a total agreement between the two clubs, and Manchester United are now in the clear to steal ahead and complete a deal.
The 6 foot star has enjoyed two campaigns at the Allianz Arena and played a squad-player role throughout, though this is not to the discredit of his skillset, with his passing quality evident and seemingly tailor-made for Lopetegui's budding West Ham system.
Indeed, across Europe's top five leagues last season, Mazraoui ranked among the top 3% of full-backs for pass completion, the top 15% for assists, the top 12% for passes attempted and the top 4% for progressive passes per 90.
However, his injury record leaves something to be desired. Across his two years in Germany, Mazraoui has missed 29 matches due to injury. Chalobah too had missed a significant portion of the 2023/24 season but had avoided more than a smattering of issues previously, so the hope is that he has placed this one hiccup behind him.
Chalobah also knows the Premier League well, knows its trials and tribulations, and could now demonstrate his dynamism in its full scope by providing both centrally and at right-back for West Ham. The in-demand talent played in that latter role on five occasions last season, with three of those outings coming in the final four league games of the season – all of which ended in victory for the Blues.
West Ham need to sign a right-sided defender with haste, putting Coufal into more of a bit-part role. It's a tough move to make, but the club needs to ensure a route back into continental competition.
West Ham hit gold on star who's worth more than Duran & Mazraoui combined
The Hammers would field enquiries for his sale, but only if a record fee is thrown his way.
ByAngus Sinclair Jul 26, 2024