West Ham are in desperate need of signing defensive reinforcements this window and now Diangana’s sale to be all but completed, targets are being revealed.
With the sale of Grady Diangana almost complete, West Ham will have to move fast to appease some distraught fans. The defence is the weak spot in the Hammers team and it is the hole that should be plugged with the money brought in from player sales.
One target the club has is Japanese defender Takehiro Tomiyasu according to the Evening Standard. The 21-year-old is currently playing his trade in the Serie A for Bologna and also his national side. The defender can be deployed as a centre-back and as a right-back.
This utility could see David Moyes solve two problems with one transfer. The Hammers are in need of another centre-back to replace Fabian Balbuena who has declined over the last year, and a right-back to provide competition to Ryan Fredericks and Ben Johnson.
Tomiyasu is not just a utility man though, he is actually a very promising defender after showing his talent in thirty-one appearances in Italy last season. In the Italian League last year the Japanese defender ranked seventh in the whole league for average recoveries per ninety minutes, 8.82.
Tomiyasu’s 2019/20 season by numbers for Bologna [Serie A ranked]
— Dan Woffenden (@danwoff98) September 3, 2020
8.82 recoveries per 90 [7th]
10.01 progressive passes per 90 [22nd]
58.82% defensive duels won [23rd]
45.22 passes per 90 [25th]
Impressive numbers. His heat-map also shows his tendency to get forward 👇 pic.twitter.com/7S4Nu5f9Tc
The 21-year-old is also a very good progressor of the ball and could significantly increase the fluidity of West Hams attack on the right-side. Tomiyasu on average played over ten progressive passes per ninety last season, far more than West Ham’s current first-choice Ryan Fredericks.
The defender would not be cheap though and could cost upwards of £16 million to bring over from Bologna. This amount of money would be a substantial chunk of the money brought in from the sale of Diangana.
What could help justify the expenditure is the fact that if Tomiyasu converted his form to the Premier League, he would improve the Hammers defensive options. Plus he is also capable of playing as a holding midfielder which could help should Tomas Soucek or Declan Rice suffer injury.
The only issue with Tomiyasu’s potential signing is the gaping weakness on the left-side of the defence. Aaron Cresswell and Arthur Masuaku have proved time and time again that the club needs a better left-back. Therefore, if the money is spent on fixing the arguably better side, it will still leave a massive weakness in the Hammers defence.