West Ham should trim the fat and pursue Nottingham double

No one knows what is true and what is made up in regard to West Ham transfers – in or out. But, the idea of signing a promising defensive duo should be taken if it’s there.

The rumour popped up on the 22nd of April, West Ham were linked with a double swoop for Nottingham Forest defenders Matty Cash and Joe Worrall, with Forest reportedly naming their price for the young English defender duo.

The pair of players had a £25m fee attached to them, which is fairly steep for unproven players at the top level. Mix in a global pandemic and nearly global shutdown and you have a stark line between clubs who can buy players and clubs who need to sell assets off to stay afloat.

Both Nottingham and West Ham are in the ‘sell’ category right now, but defensive reinforcement is needed for the Hammers, so selling off extra parts in the first team could be the move to secure both Cash and Worrall.

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With the belief that the club will have to move players to bring in new ones, the money saved on wages alone could and should push the team to make a move of this magnitude. Going off of Sportrac.com’s wage break down, shipping out Andriy Yarmolenko, and Arthur Masuaku, along with Pablo Zabaleta and Carlos Sanchez’s contracts expiring will save the team £280,000 a week (£13,440,000 a year)!

Looking at positional depth, signing Matty Cash at right-back would justify the sale of Ryan Fredericks, who is under contract until 2022. If Forest would be interested, Fredericks could be added into the double deal to replace Cash in their team, seeing as how he’s had success in the Championship with Fulham.

Likewise, Joe Worrall’s signing would push both Fabian Balbuena and Winston Reid further down the depth chart, and hopefully out of the club. Goncalo Cardoso, who was signed to compete for a first-team position, took time to adjust to English football but has succeeded as of late with the U23s. It’s time to push for something more with youth and skill over unreliable player depth.

Selling both Balbuena and Reid for whatever price you could get for either, would save £110k a week on wages and would see Cardoso and Worrall as the CB depth of the team. While uncertain, it is progressive and fits Moyes’ desire to build a young team.

So, to make this deal happen the blueprint laid here would be as follows: Sell Yarmolenko and Masuaku (two players likely to leave anyway), move Reid and Balbuena, invest wage money from expiring contracts and sold players, and offer Ryan Fredericks as a trade chip to Forest. All things considered, this deal would likely be in the estimated range of £15-£18m.

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While rather shocking and drastic, it would take a lot for the Hammers to move for Nottingham Forest’s duo of Cash and Worrall, but it would be worth it. Much like Bowen, Cash and Worrall are proving to be at (if not exceeding their level) in the Championship and West Ham could use their hunger and skill to push the team forward.

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