West Ham linked with England and top-6 defender

Is it that time of year again? The time to fill the void of the international break with transfer rumor for the upcoming January transfer window. This time for West Ham the link is for a position of need, centre-back, and is a player who would provide veteran leadership.

Chelsea have looked extremely solid this season, only dropping points in two of their Premier League matches thus far (vs. West Ham and Liverpool). Something that has settled the side is the emergence of Antonio Rudiger at centre-back alongside forgotten defender David Luis. Last season Chelsea employed an entirely different CB duo of Andreas Christiansen and Gary Cahill, but Maurizio Sarri has changed this up.

Gary Cahill is coming off of a summer of World Cup action with England, and while at 32 years of age, he still has lots left in the tank as far as Premier League quality of play. With Sarri moving on from last years centre-back pairing it appears Cahill is pushing for a move away from his home for the last six years in search of starting minutes.

Both the Mirror and the Express reported on this story and cited the reasons above for Cahill’s desire to leave the club as soon as January. The only kink in the link to West Ham is Cahill’s quote on wanting to leave Chelsea:

"“For me to do this all season is going to be very difficult. I’ve always been hungry to play football. I’m not a guy who is willing to accept not playing. It’s all about playing. Your career’s short enough as it is.”"

Cahill clearly wants to be a starting player but a move to West Ham would put him in contention for the third choice centre-back in Pellegrini’s flatback four. Premier League newbies Issa Diop and Fabian Balbuena have been a shining duo in West Ham’s turn in form in September since being played together. Cahill’s leadership and experience are great, but a move for Gary wouldn’t be a move in the right direction.

Angelo Ogbonna’s status, however, could show Pellegrini and West Ham’s hand in a move for Cahill. It’s clear, he wants to be a starter, but would he accept the position of Cup starter and third choice defender for Premier League games should Ogbonna leave?

Ogbonna played well last season for West Ham under David Moyes, but lost his place in Pellegrini’s team due to poor play in August this year. Italian side Bologna have expressed interest in the past for transferring in Ogbonna so the options are there. He came from Juventus and is Italian himself, with a bad knee injury under his belt and being on the wrong side of 30, getting rid of Ogbonna now could open the door for Cahill coming in.

For now, it seems unlikely, but at a discounted rate due to his expiring deal, West Ham could do a lot worse than Gary Cahill for rounding out their defensive corps. He wouldn’t be promised starting minutes so it would be interesting to see if he would even accept the move across London.