OPINION
There is no hiding the fact that West Ham are on the lookout to bring in a fresh face in their defence, which has gone from bad to worst during pre-season.
The Hammers seemed to have forgotten how to defend during their summer breaks and can thank their attacking line-up for being able to outscore the number of goals conceded due to their sloppy nature at the back.
Claret and Hugh reported on Sunday that a defender remains Manuel Pellegrini’s main target in the last week of the window, but that there are only a limited amount of funds available to complete any move.
A move for free-agent and former Chelsea defender Gary Cahill could be a masterstroke by the Hammers, who would bring in an experienced enforcer for no fee – with Football Insider claiming that the 33-year-old was being lined up as a last-gasp target.
Cahill would have brought the experience missing in the Hammers defensive pair of Issa Diop and Fabian Balbuena, having made 349 appearances in the top flight, bringing home two Premier League titles and a Champions League.
West Ham are surely set to miss out on the former England international though, with the Sun revealing that Premier League rivals Crystal Palace are leading the race to sign Cahill – and are now named as the most likely destination.
At 33-years-old, Cahill is still more than capable of performing at the highest level and would add steel to the Hammers defence as well as a cool and calm approach to possession-based football.
Cahill only featured for 22 minutes in the Premier League last season, but featured four times in the Europa League, averaging a 93.4% passing success rate on top of 2.8 clearances on their way to the title [WhoScored].
With Palace having reportedly taken the lead to be winning the race to sign Cahill, West Ham are surely set to miss out on the two-time title winner, who is more than likely set to run out against the Hammers next season instead.
