--- title: "ExWHUEmployee: Signing a right-back is a top priority" canonical: "https://readwestham.com/2017/03/14/exwhuemployee-signing-right-back-top-priority/" type: "post" language: "en-GB" author: "Michael Oliver" section: "West Ham News" published: "2017-03-14T16:29:28Z" modified: "2017-03-14T16:29:28Z" --- # ExWHUEmployee: Signing a right-back is a top priority The time has come for West Ham to start thinking ahead to next season following the crushing 3-2 defeat to Bournemouth last weekend. Currently, it’s abundantly clear that the squad is not good enough right now. The depth in certain areas is weak and a lot of the players just simply aren’t up to the challenge. An overhaul in the summer is needed. Reliable West Ham insider [ExWHUEmployee](https://twitter.com/ExWHUemployee) in his latest transfer column on [The West Ham Way](https://www.thewesthamway.co.uk/2017/03/10/exwhuemployee-exclusive-news-players-players-contracts-injuries/) has shed some light on the club’s transfer plans going forward and it makes for interesting reading for us fans. We’re all aware of the issues at right-back this season. Michail Antonio struggled there last season and Cheikhou Kouyate appears to be suffering the same fate this time around. Alvaro Arbeloa was brought in on a one-year deal last summer and has been an abject failure, with Ex noting that he will not see his contract extended and he will leave the club at the end of the season. ![Julian Finney/Getty Images Sport](https://media.readwestham.com/readwestham/2017/03/648817004.jpg) The club signed Sam Byram from Leeds to be their answer at right-back but the former England U21 international so far hasn’t done enough to make the position his own in the eyes of Slaven Bilic and his coaching staff. Of course, his injuries haven’t helped but it’s clear Bilic just doesn’t trust him. It’s believed that signing a right-back will be West Ham’s top priority in the summer and if the club can land a top player at the position then Byram will be allowed to leave the club on loan to further develop his game, but a permanent transfer hasn’t been ruled out if the right offer comes in. Manchester City pair Pablo Zabaleta and Bacary Sagna are both experienced Premier League players and currently split time at right-back for City, but both are out of contract in the summer and expected to leave the Etihad. Both players are on West Ham’s radar and in the case of the former Arsenal defender Sagna, he’s understood to be eager for a return to London which could work in our favour. ![Ian MacNicol/Getty Images Sport](https://media.readwestham.com/readwestham/2017/03/652012712.jpg) Kieran Trippier was reportedly a top target in January for the Hammers with the former Burnley standout struggling for regular minutes behind Kyle Walker at Tottenham, but striking a deal with Spurs has been notoriously hard for the Hammers in recent years. Interest in Saint Etienne’s Kevin Malcuit is well-known, with the Ligue 1 club rejecting two bids from West Ham in January and he remains on the club’s radar but any deal would cost in excess of £10m. West Ham are alleged to have received – and turned down – an offer worth £32m from an unnamed Chinese Super League club for Andy Carroll towards the end of their transfer window. The England international is a key player for us when healthy, but as we’ve come to learn, he does struggle to play regular games for the club and missed over a month of action recently with a groin strain which wasn’t supposed to keep him out for even one game. ![Jordan Mansfield/Getty Images Sport](https://media.readwestham.com/readwestham/2017/03/652110048.jpg) His injury struggled have left the club frustrated and they could now entertain offers for the 27-year-old in the summer with their eyes yet again firmly set on recruiting a big name (and possibly big money) centre-forward. Replacements? Well, it’s a familiar list. Michy Batshuayi is someone the club are still keeping tabs on with the Belgian striker unhappy with his lack of playing time at Chelsea this season. A loan departure is likely but a permanent exit hasn’t been ruled out and West Ham will be in the running either way. West Ham had several bids turned down for Jermain Defoe during the January transfer window but if Sunderland are relegated then his relegation clause activates making it a much simpler proposition to sign the former Hammer. Burnley’s Andre Gray is a long-term target of the club’s and a move could be made in the summer but they expect there to be widespread interest in the former Brentford man, while interest in Bournemouth’s Callum Wilson has cooled after he suffered a second severe knee injury in as many seasons. ![Michael Regan/Getty Images Sport](https://media.readwestham.com/readwestham/2017/03/646006890.jpg) Picking off the best talents at the clubs who are staring relegation in the face could be a route the Hammers go down, with Christian Benteke, Fernando Llorente and Jamie Vardy all possible targets if their respective clubs are relegated. Alexandre Lacazette is eager to leave Lyon at the end of the season and West Ham could revisit that deal although it’s very unlikely, while Burak Yilmaz, Andre-Pierre Gignac and Alvaro Negredo are all shortlisted as potential ‘like-for-like’ Andy Carroll replacements. One of West Ham’s top targets in the summer is Gylfi Sigurdsson. The attacking midfielder has been the driving force behind all things positive for Swansea this season despite their dismal season. ![Stu Forster/Getty Images Sport](https://media.readwestham.com/readwestham/2017/03/633201000.jpg) West Ham enquired into signing him in January after Dimitri Payet left the club and were quoted a club-record fee of £25m for the Icelandic midfielder but they’re led to believe that the asking price would decrease if the Swans are relegated. Much has been made about the future of Slaven Bilic but as West Ham look set to stay in the Premier League comfortably and who knows, maybe even secure their first back-to-back top half finishes in the Premier League since the Harry Redknapp era, they appear ready to offer the manager a contract extension. Only contracted until the end of next season, Bilic, for the most part, has been a great influence at the club and led the Hammers to their greatest Premier League season last year and deserves some serious backing going forward. New deals are also expected to be offered to a handful of first-team stars. Angelo Ogbonna, currently sidelined for the rest of the season with a knee injury but recovering well, will be handed fresh terms with his contract expiring in 2019. ![Michael Steele/Getty Images Sport](https://media.readwestham.com/readwestham/2017/03/633786030.jpg) Pedro Obiang, arguably a leading candidate for Hammer of the Year, also sees his contract expiring in 2019 and has been linked with Liverpool lately. The club are eager to tie him down to a new long-term contract as well. Ever since he was usurped by Darren Randolph between the sticks, Adrian has been spoken about as a player who could leave the club in the summer. His contract expires in the summer but the club does hold an option to extend that for another two years. Bilic has come out many times and spoken in admiration of his goalkeeping options and the club are considering triggering that clause to keep the Spaniard for the next two seasons. Arbeloa (as mentioned above) is expected to leave, while Gokhan Tore and Jonathan Calleri will also be departing the club when their loans expire at the end of the season. ![Shaun Botterill/Getty Images Sport](https://media.readwestham.com/readwestham/2017/03/626768986.jpg) Ashley Fletcher, who has been on the fringes of the first-team squad this season but by his own admission has played a lot more football than he thought he could, will be allowed to leave on loan in the summer to get some regular games. Other possible candidates to leave the club in the summer are Havard Nordtveit and James Collins. In Nordtveit’s situation, he’s not performed well this season in his debut year with the club and isn’t seen as a first-team player right now and the club will be shopping him. As for Collins, he’s part of the furniture here and has been a capable backup but if he wants to play more regularly elsewhere in the twilight of his career the club will not stand in his way. Bilic’s commitment to playing young talent at every opportunity is commendable and the likes of Josh Cullen, Domingos Quina, Reece Burke and Reece Oxford, three of whom who were handed their professional debut’s by Bilic, will all get a role in the first-team squad next season. ![Alex Livesey/Getty Images Sport](https://media.readwestham.com/readwestham/2017/03/642614436.jpg) Young striker Toni Martinez impressed for the U23s and has continued to score goals regularly for Oxford United whilst out on loan. He will be featured in the squad next season as well. * * * Make sure you’re at [The West Ham Way](https://www.thewesthamway.co.uk/)‘s next pre-match event on March 18th, prior to [Leicester](https://readleicester.com/)’s visit to the London Stadium. Ex-Hammer Phil Parkes will be in attendance at the event which provides a quality pre-match experience for Hammers fans. Free beer, great food and coach travel to the game, what more could you want! Get your tickets [here](https://t.co/k59Q8rm0RK). > Delighted to announce West Ham legend Phil Parkes as our next top guest.Don't miss out on this get your tickets here [https://t.co/k59Q8rm0RK](https://t.co/k59Q8rm0RK) [pic.twitter.com/cmkXWkVnkH](https://t.co/cmkXWkVnkH) > > — ExWHUEmployee (@ExWHUEmployee) [February 16, 2017](https://twitter.com/ExWHUEmployee/status/832150091158999040?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)