West Ham United are reportedly looking at Manchester United centre-back Chris Smalling.
It’s no secret that Jose Mourinho wants to bring in a new centre-back over the summer which would likely allow the likes of Chris Smalling to leave Old Trafford.
The England international was strongly linked with a move to Leicester City last summer but nothing materialised.
Due to a combination of injuries to Eric Bailly and last summer’s big defensive signing, Victor Lindelof, failing to settle into the Premier League, Smalling ended up making 28 starts last season.
Whether Jose would be prepared to let the 28-year-old leave this summer remains to be seen, but I certainly don’t expect him to do so until we find a replacement.
Tottenham Hotspur’s Toby Alderweireld has been strongly linked in recent weeks but the boss may be shopping around for better value players given that the Belgian international is 29 and Daniel Levy wants in excess of £50 million for his star.
Should we sign a new centre-back this summer then we can certainly expect at least one of Chris Smalling or Phil Jones to depart.
And the Metro are reporting that West Ham United are keeping an eye on our transfer activity as they could be preparing a move for Chris Smalling this summer. One would think Jose Mourinho would be happy to do a deal with the Hammers should we sign Alderweireld or another centre-back beforehand.
Smalling has been with us for the past eight seasons, winning the Premier League once, the 2016 FA Cup and the 2017 Europa League.
