This season has just gone from bad to worse for West Ham United.
Sure, there was a slight new manager bounce following Nuno Espírito Santo’s appointment, but that has all but evaporated.
The East Londoners may have just about scraped into the Fourth Round of the FA Cup, but sit 18th in the Premier League, seven points from safety and without a win in their last ten games.
However, while it might be too little too late, West Ham are trying to improve the squad this month, and it now looks like Nuno wants them to sign an experienced defender who’d be a massive upgrade on Max Kilman.
Nuno wants Kilman upgrade
With West Ham now staring down the barrel of relegation, the board have come to life and started bolstering the squad.
So far, the East Londoners have signed two promising strikers in former Lazio ace Taty Castellanos and Pablo Felipe from Portuguese club Gil Vicente.
The former has already shown he could be a vital player in the fight against the drop by scoring his first goal on the weekend.
However, as most fans would point out, the Hammers’ biggest problem this season has been their defence, not their attack.
Fortunately, the club could soon turn their attention to a vastly experienced player who’d help improve their backline.
At least that is according to club insider ExWHUEmployee, who, on the West Ham Way podcast, claimed West Ham were showing interest in Eric Dier.
According to the well-respected insider, Nuno is particularly “keen for West Ham” to sign the former Tottenham Hotspur ace and is the one pushing the hardest for the deal.
It’s not clear how much the Englishman would cost the Irons, but considering AS Monaco picked him up for free, it might not be too much.
In all, while this isn’t a transfer that is going to get fans on their feet, it feels like one West Ham should pursue, especially given their defensive woes and Kilman’s form.
Why Dier would be an upgrade on Kilman
Now, the unfortunate reality for Kilman is that there are more than a few reasons why Dier would be an instant upgrade over him at West Ham.
The first is the simple fact that the 31-year-old has far more experience at a higher level than he does.
For example, the 28-year-old started his career in non-league football before joining Wolverhampton Wanderers and then making his way to the Hammers, who have struggled since his arrival.
In stark contrast, the Cheltenham-born titan started his career with Portuguese giants Sporting CP, then joined Tottenham Hotspur, where he made 365 appearances, before moving to Bayern Munich and then French giants Monaco.
Moreover, while many were surprised by his move to Baveria, the “monstrous” 6 foot 3 defender, as dubbed by journalist Dan Kilpatrick, ended up being a solid signing for the German giants.
He made 48 appearances for them across all competitions, including 21 in their Bundesliga-winning league campaign last year.
Finally, as if the gulf in experience wasn’t already clear enough, Dier was also at one point a key player for England and has an impressive 49 caps under his belt.
The next reason the “rock solid” centre-back, as dubbed by former teammate Harry Kane, would be a clear upgrade on the Hammers’ £40m flop is that his underlying numbers are far superior.
|
Dier vs Kilman |
||
|---|---|---|
|
Statistics per 90 |
Dier |
Kilman |
|
Non-Penalty Expected G+As |
0.11 |
0.05 |
|
Progressive Passes |
5.38 |
2.24 |
|
Progressive Carries |
0.25 |
0.29 |
|
Passing Accuracy |
91.9% |
87.8% |
|
Key Passes |
0.38 |
0.24 |
|
Passes into the Final Third |
6.88 |
1.88 |
|
Passes into the Penalty Area |
0.25 |
0.12 |
|
Shot-Creating Actions |
1.50 |
0.41 |
|
Goal-Creating Actions |
0.25 |
0.00 |
|
Blocks |
2.13 |
1.71 |
|
Interception |
1.22 |
0.48 |
|
Ball Recoveries |
3.13 |
2.47 |
According to FBref, he comes out on top in practically every relevant metric for a modern-day centre-back.
These metrics include things like non-penalty expected goals plus assists, passing accuracy, key passes, goal and shot-creating actions, blocks, interceptions, ball recoveries and more, all per 90.
In other words, whether it be backs to the wall defending or playing out from the back, the former Bayern star is better at it.
Ultimately, from their experience to the cold hard numbers, it is clear that Dier would be a huge upgrade on Kilman and therefore, to help them stave off relegation, West Ham should do what they can to sign him.
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