OPINION
West Ham must go into overdrive to bring Manchester United defender Chris Smalling to the club rather than waste their time pursing Swansea City’s Alfie Mawson.
According to a report by popular Hammers news site Claret & Hugh, Manuel Pellegrini’s side are thought to be keen on the 6ft 4in tall (Source: Transfermarkt) Man United defender but will first try to get Mawson away from the Swans.
This is the case even though the Championship side are set to take a tough stance over selling their enforcer and the fact that the Hammers have already, as reported by Wales Online, seen a bid rejected for the defender in this window.
Even if the Hammers are eventually able to break the Swans down in negotiations it is still going to be costly and a long process to sign Mawson and they’re better suited chasing Smalling.
The 28-year-old Man United centre-back is the far superior option anyway.
Smalling made 46 appearances for his side last season and was a relatively calm presence at the back for his team, putting in the performances needed to help Man United finish second in the Premier League.
The giant enforcer also has previously won the Premier League twice as well as numerous other trophies so would bring with him the knowledge of what is needed to regularly lift silverware.
Whereas Mawson’s trophy cabinet just has one winners medal in it from his time at Barnsley where he helped his side win the Football League trophy in the 2015/16 season.
The Hammers need to seriously improve their leaky defence from last season and Smalling’s experience and skill set would see that happen much quicker than if Mawson arrived at the London Stadium instead.
Also a deal for Smalling will actually end up being cheaper and easier to complete given his situation.
The enforcer’s contract is currently set to expire in 2019 so Jose Mourinho’s side would not stand in the way of his exit to ensure the club receive a respectable payday when waving goodbye to him.
In fact it was previously reported by West Ham World that the Hammers were plotting a £12million bid for the defender and this seems likely to be enough to get a deal down, whereas it’s easy to believe that Swans would demand way more for Mawson.
Therefore the Hammers should go into overdrive to wrap up what will be a relatively easy deal to get Smalling and forget about signing the inferior Mawson from the Swans anytime soon.
