---
title: "West Ham closing in on Cardoso capture – is a new centre-back needed?"
canonical: "https://readwestham.com/2019/08/05/west-ham-closing-in-on-cardoso-capture-is-a-new-centre-back-needed/"
type: "post"
language: "en-GB"
author: "Alex Turk"
section: "Feature Writers"
published: "2019-08-05T11:17:21Z"
modified: "2019-08-05T17:30:51Z"
---

# West Ham closing in on Cardoso capture – is a new centre-back needed?

West Ham United are closing in on the signing of Boavista centre-back Goncalo Cardoso to strengthen Manuel Pellegrini’s defensive options ahead of the 2019-20 season.

According to [Sky Sports News](https://www.skysports.com/football/news/11685/11777809/west-ham-close-to-signing-goncalo-cardoso-from-boavista), the Hammers are on the verge of completing a £2.75million deal for Cardoso following a breakthrough campaign in the Primeira Liga.

The 18-year-old made 15 league appearances for Boavista after debuting in October, as well as being ever-present as Portugal’s U19s reached the U19 European Championships Final in July.

### Read West Ham verdict

Once Cardoso makes the switch, he’ll have a monumental task finding a place in Pellegrini’s starting line-up with there already being four established first-team stars battling for their place.

Although Winston Reid and Angelo Ogbonna are now 31 and can’t be expected to play week-in-week-out, Issa Diop and Fabian Balbuena will be staking a claim to regularly start in the heart of West Ham’s back-line.

The Hammers do need fresh faces at the back though. Those four centre-back options stand at an average age of 28, with Diop the only player under the age of 27.

It’s such a promising squad but exciting, young talent should also be welcomed and the home truth is that if Reid or Ogbonna – or both – were to suffer an injury, Pellegrini’s options would be thin.

The potential is clearly there with Cardoso and it’s a signing West Ham fans have reason to be getting excited about.