West Ham plotting late move to sign “excellent” £18m star

Will West Ham United continue to be busy in the final few days of the transfer window?

On Friday, the Hammers announced the arrival of not one but two new central midfielders; Matheus Fernandes arriving from Southampton for £38m, while Soungoutou Magassa has joined from Monaco for £18m.

This takes the Irons’ summer spending up to £94m, having also acquired Mads Hermansen for £20m, El Hadji Malick Diouf for £19m and both Kyle Walker-Peters and Callum Wilson on free transfers.

However, given that Graham Potter’s team have played three and lost three so far this season, smashed by Sunderland and Chelsea in the Premier League, also dumped out of the EFL Cup by Wolves, he’ll be demanding more, especially defensively, so could a new centre-back arrive?

West Ham’s need for a new centre-back

As already alluded to, despite the fact Potter deploys a back five and two holding midfield players, the Hammers have conceded eight goals in their first two top-flight matches for the first time in their entire history.

Jean-Clair Todibo, Max Kilman and Nayef Aguerd have been the starting centre-back trio for both matches who, between them, cost £105m in transfer fees, but they’re not playing like it at the moment, with the latter coming in for the most criticism.

After falling out of favour, Aguerd actually spent last season on loan at Real Sociedad, making it somewhat surprising that he’s been immediately reinstated as first-choice upon his return, so could the Hammers sign an upgrade?

Well, as reported by BBC Sport, West Ham are plotting a move to sign centre-back Charlie Cresswell from Toulouse.

Elsewhere, it has been reported that it could require a fee of around £18m to secure the signature of the 23-year-old, who only joined les Violets from Leeds for £3.8m as recently as last year.

Earlier this summer, Aaron Cresswell departed East London as a free agent, joining Stoke, so could his namesake be set to arrive at the London Stadium?

What Charlie Cresswell would bring to West Ham

Cresswell has certainly enjoyed a memorable last 12 months, making 36 appearances for Toulouse, including starting both of their Ligue 1 matches this season, helping le Téfécé keep clean sheets during victories over both Nice and then Stade Brestois.

Meantime, over the summer, he was a stalwart in the England side that won the under-21 European Championships in Slovakia, playing every minute of all six matches, scoring against Czechia in Dunajská Streda.

His performances earned him a place in the team of the tournament, as chosen by the UEFA Technical Observer panel, while journalist Henry Winter praised his leadership qualities, while Gary Rowett, who was his manager at Millwall, labelled Cresswell “excellent”, adding that he was “hugely important” to his team.

During his Leeds career, the young defender made just five Premier League appearances, totalling 140 minutes, but his impressive performances both in Ligue 1 and for the Young Lions could land him a second opportunity.

However, would he represent an upgrade on Aguerd? Let’s find out.

As the table documents, when comparing Cresswell at Toulouse to Aguerd at Real Sociedad, it is the Englishman who boasts better defensive metrics, pretty much across the board.

The 23-year-old comes out on top in terms of aerial duels, clearances, interceptions and blocks, which is pretty much everything you would want from a central defender.

Thus, all available evidence suggests the young Englishman would improve this very leaky West Ham back line.