The exodus seems likely to continue at Newcastle United as latest reports have linked their Dutch full-back Daryl Janmaat with a Premier League move to West Ham United. The Magpies would be a relieved lot when the transfer window closes with the unsettled nature of the players and the continuous exit reports of almost all their star players are clearly restricting Rafa Benitez from having the desired effect upon the team.
Meanwhile, West Ham have been blighted by injuries of late and it has got Slaven Bilic into refurbishing the depth of his squad. Most of the summer went into the tying down the stars of the team to new contracts and after being successful with that, the Hammers solely focused on recruiting a top striker.
But the lengthy delay and the subsequent failure to land their targets have seemingly put their transfer market in a bit of disarray. Aaron Creswell got injured and was declared to be long term absentee and West Ham had to act fast and subsequently, they snapped up Masuaku as a replacement. Likewise the injury to Lanzini and the failure to land their desired targets made West Ham go for Andre Ayew. But as fate would have had it, the new summer signing got injured in the very first match and is out for a period of 4 months.
With the latest reports of Janmaat, it is apparent that Bilic wants to bolster his most important areas of the field. The Hammers’ physical approach and conventional crossing from the wings in order to take advantage of the height of the likes of Carroll make it imperative to possess established full-backs who are adept in defence as well as accurate crossers of the ball. At the moment, Sam Byram is their only recognized right-back while Antonio has been regularly played out of position due to his performances. But is widely believed his raw power and physicality has the potential to wreak havoc higher up the pitch.
West Ham have leaked goals at an alarming rate against the so-called lesser teams and the combination of Antonio and Janmaat on the right-hand side will provide an ideal balance of attack and defence. The Dutch international is an established right-back and has valuable Premier League experience. He would welcome an opportunity to make a return to the Premier League but the fact that he has 4 years left on his contract renders him a potentially expensive option.
West Ham are looking to advance in Europe this term while at the same time putting up a show in the Premier League and with the current injury misfortunes, quality depth is always welcome.
