West Ham United are targeting a move for Monaco centre-back Benoit Badiashile this month with David Moyes’ side short on numbers at the back and in need of defensive reinforcements.
What’s the story?
According to Foot Mercato, the Hammers are looking to sign Badiashile and the Frenchman’s representatives have already been contacted.
The £25.2m-rated defender has been subject to interest from numerous Premier League clubs and could be on his way to England over the coming weeks.
West Ham fans will be buzzing
The Irons are in desperate need of defensive reinforcements whilst first-choice duo Kurt Zouma and Angelo Ogbonna are sidelined, with the latter out for the foreseeable future after suffering an anterior cruciate ligament injury.
Thus, the signing of Badiashile would surely be one that goes down well with the London Stadium faithful.
At just 20 years of age, the young defender is certainly a hot prospect, having started eight of Monaco’s 19 league matches this term with the French outfit 7th in Ligue 1.
The centre-back was also an ever-present in Monaco’s Champions League qualifying campaign as well as starting four of their six Europa League group stage games.
Like Zouma, the Frenchman has recently suffered a hamstring injury but returned just before Christmas off the bench in a 2-1 win over Stade Rennais.
Although inexperienced, Badiashile is now in his fourth season as a regular for Monaco’s first team, having made his Ligue 1 debut in a 4-0 home defeat to PSG back in November 2018 as a 17-year-old.
The defender went on to make another 25 first-team appearances in all competitions that season and has made 104 appearances in total since stepping up from the Monaco youth ranks in 2018.
All of that has seen him impress rapidly in French football, winning a mighty 2.1 aerial duels and 1.7 tackles per match this term. Funnily enough, that first statistic ranks exactly the same as Kurt Zouma, a fellow French defender, meaning they could create a mightily impressive partnership at the back.
As for his tackling, he’d be ranked first for centre-backs at West Ham, winning more than every defender besides Arthur Masuaku and Ben Johnson.
As a consequence, he’d surely fit seamlessly into Moyes’ defence in East London.
After a strong start to the campaign, in which they won eight of their first 15 Premier League games, the Hammers’ form has stagnated slightly since both Angelo Ogbonna and Kurt Zouma were ruled out.
Since Zouma suffered his injury in early December, the Hammers have lost four games out of seven in all competitions, winning two whilst keeping just one clean sheet.
In other news: West Ham interested in promising forward
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