OPINION
West Ham United made great strides with their transfer business this summer, but improvements can still be made in January.
In the summer Turkish publication Sabah reported that the Hammers were one of a number of teams interested in signing £26.5million-valued Besiktas defender Domagoj Vida.
The Croatian powerhouse, who formed a formidable partnership with Dejan Lovren at the heart of his country’s defence at this summer’s World Cup, never got his much-mooted move away from Istanbul and as a result Manuel Pellegrini should consider going back in for him in January.
West Ham brought in Fabian Balbuena and Issa Diop this summer, who have both started their Hammers career excellently, but beyond that there is little depth at the position at the London Stadium.
Winston Reid remains out injured with no timeline set for his return, while Angelo Ogbonna surely won’t be happy to continue warming the bench indefinitely.
Vida would come in as an upgrade for Ogbonna, and would provide increased competition for Diop and, particularly, Balbuena.
The Paraguay international has been solid since joining from Corinthians, but you get the sense that the team could do slightly better at the position – Vida would certainly be that.
He showed at the World Cup that he is a physical and dogged centre half. He is extremely strong and dominant in the air, while his technical ability is very underrated.
Who knows if Reid will return as the same player he was before his injury, while Ogbonna clearly doesn’t feature prominently in Pellegrini’s plans.
Just because you’ve got a good partnership at centre back doesn’t mean it can’t be improved, and Vida would represent a big step up in class, as well as providing a terrific veteran presence alongside the 21-year-old Diop.
