West Ham looking at two Manchester United players

It’s always a rush after the season ends to try and take stock of transfer news. West Ham have certainly been right amongst it so far.

As such it’s always hard to tell which rumours are going to have anything true about them, and which ones are just going to be another added to the long list of rubbish. West Ham have been the subject of many a poor rumour, so this may not come to much.

However when players’ names continuously creep up it starts to build a suspicion. Could the Hammers be looking to bring one or two red devils to the club?

Ambitious or Fake?

The issue with rumours linking big players to ‘smaller’ clubs is that ambition and fake rumours are very easy to mistake for one another. So anything linking Chris Smalling and Anthony Martial to West Ham is a strange gap. Why would these players consider the move?

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Well a player who is in the first team and getting regular gametime at Man United isn’t likely to want to. But neither of them are currently getting the time on the pitch they want. Despite an impressive first season at the club, Martial has failed to stake a claim for a first team place. Chris Smalling has fallen down the list at United, and Mourinho has publicly criticized him during the season.

Smalling would be a strong and solid addition to the backline at West Ham. We have a few decent centre-backs, but if you could offload Fonte and bring in Smalling it’d be a very practical move. At 27 he wants regular matches, and he would get that with a move to East London.

Anthony Martial would as well, but it’s unlikely to be a permanent move for the Frenchman. Given that United paid out a lot a few years ago for him a loan move, maybe with an option to buy, seems the most likely in this window.

Chances of happening?

The board have made it clear that a striker is the most important signing. Anthony Martial is not among the list of targets in that respect, and it’d be as more of a winger that he would be utilized anyway. In that regard, why would the Hammers get him when they have Antonio and Ayew on big contracts as well? It would seem like overkill to a club without the demands of European football. Maybe if Ayew were to move back to Marseille then Martial would be a target. With the current squad I don’t think it’s that likely.

Smalling is an interesting one, because Bilic reportedly thinks very highly of him. He would be a great addition to a leaky back line and he’d want to play his way into the England starting XI as well. However it all depends on the transfer kitty. If there’s not enough to spend, he won’t be a priority. There’s a lot of youth in this area at the club, but he is a desirable purchase that’s for sure.

Next: Transfer window looking promising

It shows that the Hammers should be respected though. A couple of years ago this type of move would be out of the question. For now we’ll just have to wait and see. Can the two red devils be forged into Irons? I hope so.

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