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West Ham Championship targets: Eyes on Ryan Manning

By Adam Smith

LONDON, ENGLAND - JANUARY 24: Ryan Manning of Queens Park Rangers looks on during the FA Cup Fourth Round match between Queens Park Rangers and Sheffield Wednesday at The Kiyan Prince Foundation Stadium on January 24, 2020 in London, England. (Photo by James Chance/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND - JANUARY 24: Ryan Manning of Queens Park Rangers looks on during the FA Cup Fourth Round match between Queens Park Rangers and Sheffield Wednesday at The Kiyan Prince Foundation Stadium on January 24, 2020 in London, England. (Photo by James Chance/Getty Images) /
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With a new transfer policy in effect, West Ham are looking for young players to bring into the club. With positional need at the forefront, a QPR defender is a must-sign come the summer.

Rumour has it, West Ham are moving to a new transfer policy to target players under 25 in hopes to create a young, cohesive core for now and the future. Polarizing manager David Moyes is at the helm of this change, possibly winning him favour in the eyes of supporters.

The key to the player highlighted here is positional need, and for West Ham and overhaul at left-back is direly needed for the 2020/2021 season. Younger, stronger, more direct, and better defensively. This means Arthur Masuaku out, Aaron Cresswell moved to second choice, and Ryan Manning brought in as the Hammers’ new left-back.

So who is Manning? The 23-year-old left-back hails from Ireland and has played in 32 matches this season for 13th in the table Queen’s Park Rangers. Teammates with West Ham loanee Jordan Hugill, Manning has been a standout star for QPR this season, catching eyes with his playmaking abilities. WhoScored.com also has him ranked in the top-5 for Championship left-backs with a 7.09 overall rating this season.

Manning has played in 32 Championship matches this season, just missing five during the campaign. I this stretch of play he’s scored twice while adding five assists. His consistency is also something to be admired, as he’s spread out these contributions rather evenly across the season.

At just 23, Manning is green but keeping Cresswell around, a player who is a long-serving member of the club as a mentor and backup could do wonders for his transition to the Premier League. This does push out Masuaku as mentioned above, but that isn’t the end of the world.

Masuaku’s defensive play is less-than-average and with West Ham playing a flat-four at the back in recent games it appears his marauding, dribbling, advanced approach to the position aren’t needed. The Hammers won’t have an issue moving him on either, with France or Spain a likely destination for the wing-back.

dark. Next. West Ham should press the refresh button on past transfer rumors

Nailing down a young, needed talent like Manning with a swift transfer in would be a booming start to a much needed revamp on the back end for West Ham. It would also reassure supporters that Moyes may still be the man to renovate the team and push on from constant uncertainty, season after season.

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