West Ham transfer target joins Championship side Burnley

After the third Premier League match against Manchester City with ended in a 3-1 defeat for West Ham, the Hammers have been involved in talks to sign another defender on a free transfer. Manager Julen Lopetegui suggested that the club are considering some centre back options from the free transfer market with Premier League clubs having the first two weeks of September to announce their league squad. World class centre-backs such as Mats Hummels and Mario Hermoso joined Roma at the beginning of this month which left the Hammers with other top quality defenders including Joel Matip and John Egan.

The former Liverpool star was the preferred transfer target and West Ham even offered Matip a two year contract at the London Stadium. However, Matip's injury record in the recent seasons led West Ham to consider signing the Republic of Ireland defender, John Egan, who left Sheffield United after six years at the end of the last season. Further, the speculation about a potential signing increased as the 31-year-old also made an appearance for West Ham in a recent friendly against Dagenham during the international break. 

West Ham transfer target joins Championship side Burnley

However, that isn't the case as Egan has decided to join Championship side Burnley on a free transfer instead. Speaking after joining Burnley, John Egan said,

"The manager, staff and the players all want to be successful. I want to come in and add to that.

I’ve been here a few weeks now. I want to bring my experience and my ability into the group to help drive the group on."

- John Egan

Egan also revealed that he had been involved in transfer talks with Burnley as well alongside West Ham in recent few weeks. Now, Joel Matip is an option for West Ham, however, the Hammers are also considering the idea of promoting young centre back Kaelan Casey as the fourth choice centre back in the first team squad.