Potential Hammer? West Ham agree personal terms with Argentine defender

Who are ya?

Emanuel Insua is a left-back who plays for club side Boca Juniors in his native Argentina. At just 23 years of age, Insua is supposedly one of the hottest young properties in the Argentinian league at the moment, and his performances last season are apparently attracting interest from Premier League clubs. Insua can also play as a left-winger if need be so he is versatile in that respect. He is also the younger brother of Emiliano Insua, who had a spell at Liverpool 2007-2011.

Big Sam spend some money!

Amid all the rumours, little has been mentioned of a potential transfer fee – more than likely it would be in the region of £3-4million for a promising young defender. Potentially this could be a good deal for the Hammers at this sort of price, because if Insua can settle into the demands of the Premier League, and replicate the form he showed last season for Boca Juniors, he has many years of football ahead of him.

Believability factor

A few days ago, there were several reports in the national press that stated a deal for the left-back had been struck, and that only a transfer fee between West Ham and Boca Juniors had yet to be finalised. However, speculation has since cooled, with the Hammers now strongly linked with several other players for the troublesome left-back position. Therefore, at this moment in time, a deal for Insua dosen’t seem especially likely, despite the rumoured interest.

Game changer?

There is no doubt that West Ham are in desperate need for a left back ahead of the new season, with George McCartney released from his contract this summer and last season’s loanee Pablo Armero opting to stay in Serie A with his recent move to Udinese. So, Insua could be seen as the long-term solution to that position, as he is young, and probably not too expensive. However, there are certainly other candidates in the frame at this moment who may also be able to fill the void.