West Ham’s first summer signing is on his way. According to insider ExWHUEmployee, free agent Joel Veltman has been in talks with the club and completed his medical today.
Veltman, 34, has been without a club since leaving Brighton this summer after six years at the Amex, where he made 191 appearances following his 2020 move from Ajax. A regular for Erik ten Hag's Ajax side before that switch, he's earned 28 caps for the Netherlands and can play comfortably at both right-back and centre-back. He is exactly the kind of positional flexibility a squad rebuilding for the Championship needs from a defensive addition.
For a comparative example, Veltman’s role is similar to what Aaron Cresswell was to West Ham in his final 2 years with the club. For the best part of a decade, Cresswell was West Ham's dependable presence across multiple defensive positions. The club would use him mostly at left-back, but he would be shifted inside to a back three. Veltman, like Cresswell, will also serve as one of the dressing room's senior voices. A void that has been felt since former manager Graham Potter parted ways with him last summer.
Veltman looks tailor-made to plug that exact gap. His ability to cover both full-back and centre-back gives Nuno Espirito Santo the kind of squad depth Cresswell once provided, while his age and experience make him a natural mentor for West Ham's younger defenders, chief among them Malick Diouf, the club's first-choice left-sided defender. There's also a broader benefit for the dressing room: with captain Jarrod Bowen having carried much of the leadership burden by himself, an experienced, vocal figure like Veltman arriving to share that weight would take real pressure off the captain’s shoulders.
Whatever Veltman offers on the pitch, his significance right now is also about timing. This would be West Ham's first incoming transfer of the summer. This first incoming move is a lot later in the window than fans would like, given how much business the club has already done selling players on. If the move is confirmed as expected, the hope inside the club and among supporters will be that it's the signing that finally gets things moving.
Add us as a preferred source on Google