Pablo Zabaleta, West Ham United’s 34-year-old defender, could be retiring at the end of the season according to TalkSport. Thus, the right-back position is definitely an area of concern for the Hammers.
West Ham United are seemingly keen on prolonging Zabaleta’s stay at the London Stadium, but the Hammers could be eyeing a move for Manchester United’s Antonio Valencia if Zabaleta sticks with his plans to retire.
It is understood that the Argentine defender could be making a return to the Etihad Stadium with a behind the scenes role on offer. However, that only happens if the right-back decides to call it time on his career as a professional footballer.
The Sun have also claimed that Valencia is right on top of Manuel Pellegrini’s summer shopping cart. Antonio Valencia has worn the Manchester United shirt for more than a decade but runs out of contract at the end of the season.
The Ecuadorian has made five appearances for Manchester United in the Premier League this season and has been nursing a knee injury since the past couple of weeks. A contract renewal for Valencia does not seem to be on the cards (our opinion), and it could well draw the curtain on his glittering career at Old Trafford. The full-back has made 338 appearances for the club and was even awarded the captains arm-band this season.
Interim Manchester United boss, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has been quoted saying this about Valencia:
“Well hopefully he’ll recover.
“Because he’s training hard, really hard. Then he got a setback, so hopefully, in a couple of weeks, he’ll be back with us.
“He’s been a fantastic servant for the club, he’s the captain for a reason.”
The two-time Premier League winner with Manchester United is a year younger than Zabaleta and could be just the right deal for West Ham United if everything falls in place.
Valencia is similar in terms of physique to Zabaleta but is marginally taller. This could be an advantage for West Ham next season as they would be performing better in aerial duels. A free transfer at the end of the season would also mean that the Hammers would be able to afford Valencia’s 100,000 per week wage (or atleast something close to that).
However, Valencia would not find it easy to make the starting line-up every week with current first choice right back, Ryan Fredricks putting in determined performances week in and week out. Predicting what’s going to happen in the summer transfer market is nearly impossible, but it is certainly going to be exciting. In our opinion, West Ham can go for this transfer given that it would be a free transfer.
