Multiple teams in Scotland are interested in signing forgotten West Ham United defender Sam Byram, according to Football London.
The outlet claims that there are sides north of the border who are eyeing the 25-year-old, who has endured injury after injury since joining the Hammers from Leeds United in 2016.
The Englishman spent this season on loan with Championship side Nottingham Forest but, again, injuries limited him to just a handful of appearances for the Reds.
However, Forest boss Martin O’Neill still wants to sign him on a permanent basis, although nothing has come of that yet. Indeed, he will seemingly now face competition from Scotland for Byram’s services.
OPINION
This is an interesting situation. There would appear to be no future for Byram at the London Stadium anymore. He is way down Manuel Pellegrini’s pecking order, with Ryan Fredericks, Pablo Zabaleta and Ben Johnson all ahead of him at this moment in time. So it’s going to be difficult for him to work his way up even if he were to remain at West Ham. It would make sense, then, for the club to move him on this summer if they can find a suitable suitor. Forest obviously stand out as the obvious destination for him, but there has yet to be any movement on that front. That leaves the door open for these unnamed Scottish clubs. Rangers obviously already have a top drawer right back in James Tavernier, so they’re unlikely to be in for Byram. Celtic, though, have plenty of uncertainty at the position so they could be tempted to take a risk on the Hammers’ forgotten man. Let’s wait and see what happens this summer.
