Player West Ham sold for just £9.5m is now outdoing everyone in his position across Europe’s top League. West Ham fans have surely been left scratching their heads after a number of sales in recent times.
There was Sebastien Haller, who struggled in England after a £45m move from Eintracht Frankfurt, scoring just ten goals in 48 Premier League games.
The Ivorian then bounced back to secure a £30m move to Borussia Dortmund and also score the goal which won the Africa Cup of Nations for the Ivory Coast.
He’s just getting started 🖤💛 pic.twitter.com/dhtAdhHPeJ
— Borussia Dortmund (@BlackYellow) May 23, 2023
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There were also the strange sales of James Tomkins and Cheikhou Kouyate to Crystal Palace for a combined £19.5m – at a where both London clubs were direct Premier League rivals, with the duo playing key roles for the south Londoners across many years.
Now, there is another player West Ham offloaded who is shining.
Thilo Kehrer outperforming every other centre-back in Europe after leaving West Ham
Back in January 2024, AS Monaco decided to sign Thilo Kehrer on loan for the remainder of the 2023/24 campaign.
West Ham were happy to let the Germany international go, not only temporarily, but also for good, as a £9.5m purchase option was given to the French giants.
After an impressive run of displays, AS Monaco decided to trigger that option, signing Kehrer to a four-year contract back in May.
Now, that is starting to look like a foolish decision from West Ham.
As WhoScored shows, Kehrer is statistically outperforming every other central defender in Europe’s top five leagues right now, with an average match rating of 7.64 to his name. Thilo Kehrer has earned a better WhoScored rating (7.64) than any other centre-back in Europe’s top 5 leagues this season. 🥇 pic.twitter.com/jV9WaI8iJp
— WhoScored.com (@WhoScored) October 13, 2024
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The AS Monaco No.5 has even managed to score two goals in his five appearances in Ligue 1 so far this season, helping Adi Hutter’s side top the table.
Tim Steidten decision now looks even worse at West Ham
Of course, some players suit certain leagues better than others, with Kehrer struggling in the Premier League – undoubtedly.
Therefore, his sale would have been a wise move had Tim Steidten beefed up the centre-back department at the London Stadium, but that is far from the case. West Ham’s Director of Football has instead left Julen Lopetegui short in that area after offloading Kurt Zouma and Nayef Aguerd, making Kehrer’s displays for AS Monaco harder to take.
West Ham were even speaking to Joel Matip and John Egan as potential free transfers, before the latter moved to Burnley and the former retired.
Hopefully, West Ham solve this lack of squad depth out in January, or the second half of the 2024/25 campaign could be a struggle.
