The January transfer window is now officially open, and many teams will be looking to strengthen their squads. For West Ham United adding squad depth will be important.
West Ham’s need to sign a new centre-back has become more and more evident as the season has gone on. Angelo Ogbonna and Kurt Zouma have been forced to miss action due to lower-body injuries, and the partnership between Craig Dawson and Issa Diop has not been consistent enough. West Ham will also need to look for younger defensive options if the team wants to plan for the long term.
These five centre-back recommendations are young, highly-rated players in Europe. They all have one major trait that would suit West Ham’s style of play: all five are known for their strong passing abilities and ability to carry the ball into midfield. These two qualities would suit the Premier League and help West Ham’s attacking system.
West Ham should be look to sign these five centre-backs – scouting report.
Kim Min-Jae
South Korean international Kim Min-Jae is in his first season with Turkish giants Fenerbahçe. The 25-year-old is known as “Monster” in his homeland, and his style of play shows why.
Kim is an aggressive tackler who does not shy away from making his mark. He prefers to pass the ball long and upfield rather than short and lateral, as he likes to kick-start counter-attacks from the back. This would suit Michail Antonio and Jarrod Bowen. Many of these passes come after he has won back possession; he immediately looks up and distributes the ball.
Kim was linked with a move to Juventus last year. Tottenham and Everton also scouted him a year before. This suggests that he may be using the Turkish Süper Lig as a platform to promote himself in order to move to a Western European club.
Bećir Omeragić
Nineteen-year-old Bećir Omeragić is a rising talent in Swiss football. He currently plays for FC Zurich and is a regular starter in the first team.
Omeragić was born in Switzerland to parents of Bosnian descent. He grew up idolizing Sergio Ramos and Sami Hyypiä, and the teenager models his game around these two players. Hyypiä managed Zurich from 2015 to 2016, with Omeragić joining the club two years later.
The young centre-back is a versatile defender who has played at right-back and right wing-back. He tends to play as a centre-back for the Swiss national team, where he plays in a back three. He is deployed as a right-back in a back four, but he can interchange between both roles if need be. Omeragić is also known for his dribbling ability, something that would benefit West Ham.
Attila Szalai
Fenerbahçe’s Attila Szalai is nicknamed “Hungary’s Virgil van Dijk” and is one of his homeland’s most well-known footballers. The 23-year-old has had a well-travelled career thus far, having played in Austria and Greece before he moved to Turkey.
Szalai can operate in a back three or a back four. He rarely holds the ball and looks to pass it as soon as he sees open space, which leads to lots of successful passes. He moves the ball to his full-backs so that they can run down the wing, this would compliment Moyes’ system of getting Vladimir Coufal and Aaron Cresswell joining attacks. Szalai is also a very physical, muscular player.
Adapting to life in England would not be hard for Szalai, as he speaks fluent English.
Matteo Gabbia
Matteo Gabbia has undergone a major transformation to find his ideal position. Having initially started as a central midfielder, he converted to a defensive midfielder during his first season with Milan’s academy. However, 22-year-old Gabbia now prefers to play in the defence as a centre-back.
Gabbia is a playmaker defender. He likes to join attacks when the opportunity arises, and this makes him a threat from set pieces like West Ham’s other centre-back targets. As the ball approaches the box, he makes runs towards the goal in hope of creating a chance. He can effectively clear balls to his teammates from inside his own penalty area, which adds to his ability to make plays.
Anel Ahmedhodžić
Bosnian and Malmo defender Anel Ahmedhodžić is a two-way centre-back. He has both attacking and defensive qualities, and he works well with a back four.
His statistics suggest that he is an accurate passer of the ball. He had an accuracy of 91.9% successful passes and a 79% progressive pass rating during the 2020/21 season. Centre-backs rarely attack into vacant spaces in the modern game, but Ahmedhodžić does this very confidently. His style of play has made him an in-demand player, and he is on the radar of clubs in Italy and England such as Man United.