West Ham United could reach out to an "impressive" Premier League defender and replace Nayef Aguerd, should the Irons star leave this month.
West Ham eyeing new defender for Moyes
Aguerd's precarious future at the club, combined with veteran Angelo Ogbonna looking set to leave east London at the end of this season, has seemingly motivated West Ham to look at signing another centre-back.
West Ham contact £50m striker to see if he wants to join Moyes in January
There’s been an approach.
ByEmilio GalantiniJan 5, 2024
A recent injury to Kurt Zouma, and Aguerd's unavailability, thrust Ogbonna back into the fold over West Ham's last few games but that soon won't be an option for manager David Moyes.
Summer signing Konstantinos Mavropanos will have little company if both Aguerd and Ogbonna depart this year, as the former could make a surprise exit from West Ham this month as well.
Moyes is reportedly keen on Max Kilman from Wolves as a centre-back option this window, with Stuttgart ace Dan Axel-Zagadou also thought to be on West Ham's radar.
There are a good few other names liked by the east Londoners and technical director Tim Steidten, and club insider ExWHUemployee says one of them is Chelsea defender Trevoh Chalobah.
West Ham could approach Chalobah to replace Aguerd
The 24-year-old is yet to feature at all under Mauricio Pochettino, and while that is partly due to injury, he isn't thought to be in the club's plans moving forward.
As a result, he's readily available for transfer, and West Ham could approach Chalobah over signing him in January if Aguerd does in fact leave the London Stadium.
When talking about West Ham's list of defender targets, ExWHUemployee told the West Ham Way website:
"Dan-Axel Zagadou of Stuttgart has been on the radar for a while alongside Robert Renan of Saint Petersburg and Maxence Lacroix of Wolfsburg.
"The same can be said for Chelsea defender Trevoh Chalobah, with the 24-year-old heavily linked in the summer, and again could well be approached should we need to replace Aguerd."
Chalobah is a versatile option who can play on the right flank as well as in central midfield, meaning he can plug many gaps for Moyes should West Ham make a move.
He's also proven a capable asset for Chelsea in the past, despite not being in Pochettino's favour, with former Blues boss Graham Potter calling Chalobah an "impressive" character.
"I’ve been very impressed from day one," said Potter on Chalobah to Chelsea's official website in 2022.
"Very professional, very determined. He’s an impressive character, very focused on his football.
"He’s a bit of a soldier. He’s played in all the games, we’re having some problems in terms of availability for players, but he’s stood up, stood in and he’s performing at a really good level."
Fabrizio Romano claimed at the back end of last year that interested clubs may only have to pay around £25 million to seal a deal for Chalobah, which will come as another big draw for West Ham.