Amongst the talented crop of players we have in our ranks vying for a centre back position, namely Reece Oxford and Reece Burke, there is an interesting player plying his trade in Croatia which we should definitely have a look at.
Filip Benkovic, who currently plays for Dinamo Zagreb, is building a name for himself through rising through the youth system to become a first-team player. Part of a successful Zagreb side that have won two trophies that including capturing the Croatian league title, he has also grabbed himself a couple of goals in the Croatian first league, he has also appeared in the Champions League facing the likes of Juventus and Sevilla, playing the full 90 minutes of each.
At the tender age of 19, he is a year older than Oxford and has been given a lot more game time, gaining valuable experience in the field, which I think given a chance Oxford would definitely be able to cope with. A young centre back with valuable experience beside our maybe one-day captain would be a very good pairing indeed.
Bilic’s strong ties with Dinamo Zagreb (even advising the coach on how to beat Arsenal back in 2015), and hailing from Croatia himself, he certainly wouldn’t feel out of place at West Ham but the deal wouldn’t seem likely. As mentioned before we have extreme talent in the burgeoning star of Oxford, and taking a gamble on available first team minutes might not appeal to the young Croatian, but it would be a very good signing for the future.
