OPINION
Every man and his dog knows that West Ham United need to bring in a new left back this summer after the struggles of Aaron Cresswell and Arthur Masuaku this season.
It had seemed that Olympiakos star Leonardo Koutris was the man most likely to fill the void on the left hand side of the Hammers defence. Indeed, Claret & Hugh reported earlier this week that the club were planning a £10million move for the Greek international.
However, the club’s director of football Mario Husillos has seemingly poured cold water on those links, telling Sport 24: “There is no question with Koutris. Absolutely not. It is non-existent.”
That’s exactly what the West Ham faithful won’t have wanted to hear from the man most directly involved in recruitment at the club. In fact, they will likely be bereft at this update.
Anyone who has watched Cresswell and Masuaku this campaign will know that neither man has proved they are good enough to be a consistent Premier League full back.
Koutris, though, has looked superb for the Greek giants this season. He is a reliable, athletic full back who likes to bomb on down the left hand side of the pitch. He’s not bad defensively, too.
But, as far as Husillos is concerned, there is no interest from the Hammers’ side. That’s a shame, because Koutris, on paper, would appear to be the ideal candidate to take the reins from Messrs Cresswell and Masuaku.
It seems like that isn’t going to happen, though, and so the supporters will have to regroup and set their sights on alternative left back transfer targets.
