West Ham in on out-of-favour Premier League midfielder

The rumour mill continues to turn as West Ham have been linked with a January move for a fellow Premier League midfielder.

With Declan Rice and Tomas Soucek operating as one of the Premier League’s elite midfield duos, there isn’t much emphasis on West Ham making a signing in the middle of the pitch. When examining positional depth, however, there is a need.

Enter Sheffield United’s John Lundstram. The marauding central midfielder has is on an expiring contract and has been linked to a move to London to don the claret and blue by reliable Hammers ITK ExWHUemployee and the Star as far back as August this year.

On a deal that expires at the end of this season, Lundstram who is 26-years-old has seemingly ignored or turned down contract offers from Sheffield to remain a blade. This bodes well for West Ham’s penny-pinching board who can potentially pry him away at a discounted rate in January so his club don’t lose him for free.

According to Spotrac.com Lunstram is on £4,000 a week which is extremely low for a Premier League player. West Ham have a history of using higher-paying contracts to lure players to East London, and with Lundstram on a deal as low as he is, that would seemingly be the case here.

As for where he factors in, Lundstram would be a backup and rotational midfield player, providing cover at center mid and potentially rotating with Rice and Soucek over Mark Noble who himself is out of contract at the end of the season.

With Noble potentially signing a one-year extension to chase the club loyalty record that he is tied with Messi for (no insider knowledge here, just a thought), Lundstram on a 2-3 year deal makes sense in the immediate and longterm for the club.

For Sheffield last season, Lundstram played in 34 Premier League matches, notching five goals and adding three assists for a solid season of production from the middle of the pitch. He was integral to the booming success of newly-promoted Sheffield but with his rumoured desire to move on from his current club, West Ham could and should benefit from this situation.

Overall, Lunstram would be a welcomed addition to West Ham. While he wouldn’t impact the first team in a regular position, he would provide great cover, push the starters for minutes, and provides a longer-term solution to replacing Noble in the middle of the pitch. Time to swoop for the Hammers’ board.