West Ham United will be pleased with their transfer window after strengthening across the board in terms of their playing squad, with the likes of Luis Guilherme, Crysencio Summerville and Niclas Fullkrug entering their attacking ranks alongside Guido Rodriguez and Carlos Soler coming in as midfielder acquisitions – but they may not be done there, with Sky Sports reporter Dharmesh Sheth suggesting that the club are looking at John Egan or Joel Matip to come in as defensive backups for two departed stars.
The Irons had a fairly neutral net spend last season following the £105million sale of Declan Rice to Arsenal, and a ninth-placed finish in the Premier League wasn’t the end of the world by all means – but it did mean that they missed out on European football for the first time in four years, and their summer spending this season has shown a clear desire to get back onto the continental football scene. But despite their strong spending, the club could look to bring in one more – with Egan and Matip both being considered.
West Ham Looking at Matip and Egan
The centre-back duo could find their way to the London Stadium. The tweet from Sheth states that West Ham are looking at free agent defenders to bring in to aid their central defender options – having lost Kurt Zouma and Nayef Aguerd on loan at the end of the transfer window.
The Hammers already have Max Kilman and Jean-Clair Todibo in their ranks as their starting centre-backs, having signed from Wolverhampton Wanderers and Nice in the summer transfer window themselves – whilst Konstantinos Mavropanos will act as backup, and Aaron Wan-Bissaka can arguably play there in a back three having signed from Manchester United.
John Egan’s Sheffield United statistics by season, in league competitions
But barring those options, the next best is youngster Kaelan Casey, who made his debut for the club at the end of last season in a routine 3-1 win over Luton Town.
As a result, it’s 33-year-old Matip and 31-year-old Egan who are being looked at by the club, with talks ongoing with both of their representatives as Julen Lopetegui’s side consider potential moves for the unattached duo to act as backup for Kilman and Todibo, who are still finding their feet at the club following their summer moves.
Matip. Egan would be an interesting signing, given that he barely has any Premier League experience. He would be a superb signing at Championship level having won promotion from the second-tier twice with Sheffield United in the past five years, but with just 73 appearances in the top-flight – with two of his three seasons with the Blades ending in relegation – he wouldn’t be an overly experienced addition for the top-flight.
Suffering a foot injury against the Hammers last season, Egan didn’t feature again beyond his trip to the London Stadium at the end of September 2023; and having reportedly trained with Burnley in pre-season, that would likely be more his level.
GIVEMESPORT Key Statistic: Joel Matip made 201 appearances for Liverpool, scoring 11 goals in his time at Anfield.
Matip, on the other hand, has experience coming out of his ears with a Champions League win to boot, and although he tore his cruciate ligament for Liverpool in December which effectively ended his time on Merseyside, the pair are both lacking fitness – and so Matip’s credentials would surely be more suited.
Egan does boast two years on the Cameroonian and that could come into play, but as a backup option, Matip would be ideal for a top-half-chasing Premier League side.
