OPINION
The jig is up for Angelo Ogbonna at West Ham United. In the past he has shown promise at times, but it’s become clear over the last month that he is lightyears away from being Premier League quality.
This latest stretch of games, where the 6’3″ (source: Transfermarkt) Italian giant has filled in for the injured Fabian Balbuena, has been tough to watch. Ogbonna’s fellow centre back Issa Diop has gone from looking like a world beater alongside the Paraguayan to a lost puppy next to Ogbonna.
However, manager Manuel Pellegrini can finally move on from the former Juventus star with a move for Burnley’s forgotten man Ben Gibson, who would represent a massive upgrade on the woeful 30-year-old.
Sky Sports reported on Tuesday that Championship side Aston Villa have made an approach to the Clarets for the former Middlesbrough man. Dean Smith’s side are seeking a loan move with an option to buy included.
It’s imperative that the Hammers barge Villa out of the way on this one. Gibson is a wonderful player of proven Premier League quality and he could instantly enhance this beleaguered West Ham backline.
Balbuena will be back at some point, but that still leaves Ogbonna as the primary back up to the Balbuena-Diop partnership. As we have seen lately, that just won’t do.
Gibson, on the other hand, is as safe a pair of hands as West Ham could realistically hope to find. He is good on the ball, no doubt, but he is a defender first and foremost and that’s what the Hammers need. Plus, at just 26 years of age he still has plenty of top flight football left ahead of him.
Gibson was a £12million signing from Boro last summer, but has made just one Premier League appearance for Sean Dyche’s side. Burnley have good defenders in James Tarkowski and Ben Mee but, still, Gibson’s absence is baffling.
He deserves to be playing regular football and West Ham can offer him that. They need to do something about the bumbling Italian at the heart of their defence, and a last-gasp move for Gibson could be just what the doctor ordered in the final few days of the transfer window.
