West Ham United

Alex McLeish Praises Imminent Craig Dawson Signing

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Former Scotland manager Alex McLeish has heaped praise on the West Ham board for their astute transfer shrewdness after news emerged over Craig Dawson.

In an exciting transfer development, recent reports have detailed how Dawson is just a handful of games away from automatically triggering a permanent West Ham stay.

The Athletic have detailed how the Watford loanee requires just three more starts in claret and blue before an automatic £2 million transfer clause is activated.

West Ham paid an initial £1 million loan fee to sign Dawson with the rest of the deal being due to go through after fifteen starts for the club. Dawson will then be kept at the club for a further two years on a permanent deal, on top of the year he is already underway with at West Ham.

Speaking to Football Insider, McLeish praised the Hammers board for their shrewdness in securing the deal:

“That is some deal,” McLeish claimed.

“Amazing when you think of the £12million and £15million players. We actually say when a player comes for £12million now he must be hopeless.

“To get Craig Dawson for £2million, he’ll be really happy with that, David Sullivan.

“David’s been brilliant with the deals over the years, the two Davids (Gold) and not forgetting Karren (Brady) of course.”

Dawson only broke into the first team line-ups in December but has never missed a minute under David Moyes’ tutelage since, underlining how critical he has been for the Hammers this season.

He has even contributed four goals in all competitions and is proving to be an unlikely source of goals.

Opinion

For the price West Ham are paying, few deals beyond free transfers would offer better value for money this season.

Defensively robust, fit since his integration and a major aerial threat, the 30-year-old has the makings of an all-action bulwark at the back.

West Ham will be delighted with his form in relation to the comparatively-meagre price they are paying.

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