OPINION
West Ham must finally one way or another end their pursuit of Alfie Mawson and just let Burnley take the gamble on him instead.
Wales Online reported on Thursday that the Clarets were locked in talks with Swansea City over the 24-year-old centre-back with the Swans still keen on getting £20million for him.
The newspaper claimed that while Burnley were discussing a potential deal, the Hammers was still in the frame to sign Mawson despite spending big in the transfer window so far.
It was previously claimed by Claret & Hugh that Manuel Pellegrini and Hammers director of football Mario Housillos had their doubts about spending big on signing the Swans’ centre-back as after signing Lukas Fabianski they were uncomfortable about recruiting another player from a recently relegated side.
The experienced duo were right to have these doubts as while Mawson may have impressed in some of his 38 league appearances last season, he wasn’t completely blameless when it came to his side suffering relegation.
The £25,000-a-week centre-back (Source: Spotrac) submitted some less than stellar performances that didn’t exactly give his side the best chance of keeping a clean sheet or securing valuable points.
Therefore there is a risk to signing Mawson especially for the Hammers, who had their own defensive woes last season, as there’s no guarantee that playing for a side in better form will improve his displays.
Also the 24-year-old is currently coming off the back of knee surgery and is still recovering, according to Wales Online, so he won’t be able to hit the ground running at his new club.
Especially as the newspaper’s update states that Mawson would miss the start of the season as he isn’t due to recover in time.
While the 24-year-old will no doubt eventually fully recover from his knee injury, those type of injuries are likely to reoccur.
Therefore it would be a gamble to shell out £20million on Mawson at this time as the club can’t be 100% sure that he will easily be able to get back up to speed quickly following his injury.
This means the best case for the Hammers is to let their Premier League rivals Burnley take the gamble on Mawson and abort their pursuit of him once and for all.
