Could Shane Duffy be a good signing for West Ham?

Now the transfer window is open West Ham can make improvements to its defence, which was one of the worst in the Premier League last season.

West Ham has mostly been linked to young up and coming talent from the Championship. Some of which Hammer’s fans are very much in favour of signing such as Cedric Kipre, Matty Cash, Antonee Robinson and Rico Henry. All of these players are under twenty-five and would be hungry for Premiership action to prove themselves.

The Hammer’s newest link, however, does not fit this mould of player at all. According to the Daily Mirror, West Ham manager David Moyes is keen on bringing Shane Duffy to the London Stadium. Moyes knew Duffy from his time managing Everton and was the man who gave the defender his professional debut.

Duffy has been at Brighton since 2016 and has played a massive part for their defence since the Brighton and Hove Albion’s promotion. Signed from Blackburn, the Irish centre-back is very much an old school defender. Duffy is willing to his body on the line to defend the goal, much like Hammer’s favourite James Collins.

Up until last season, Duffy was part of a solid defence alongside Lewis Dunk. When Graham Potter arrived that all changed, however, Duffy was resigned to the bench and struggled for game time on the South-Coast. Only making nineteen appearances in the Premier League, Duffy’s lowest ever amount since the Seagulls promotion.

West Ham is in the market for a centre-back. Fabian Balbuena has been inconsistent since. Returning from the Copa America and Angelo Ogbonna is the wrong side of thirty. A negative about signing Duffy might be that he would only prove to be an upgrade on Balbuena due to his experience in England. A plus to signing Duffy, however, would be the acquisition of a very experienced centre-back for a quoted £10 million.

Duffy is out of favour at Brighton and would be unlikely to displace either Ogbonna or Issa Diop in the starting eleven. In this case, the best the Irishman could do is provide competition and be a reliable back-up. For £10 million of what is already a slim budget, Duffy would hurt the Hammers ability to strengthen more vital areas.

The club was linked to Duffy in January and was close to signing him. The prospect of Duffy signing dos not build excitement. Especially as fans would probably prefer West Ham to try and sign Ben White, Lewis Dunk or Adam Webster from Brighton, these three players would all improve the squad significantly more than Duffy.