Kevin Phillips has suggested that West Ham could cut short the loan deal for Craig Dawson in January and allow the defender to return to Watford.
Dawson was signed late in the summer transfer window as David Moyes tried desperately to sign a central defender, but the 30-year-old is yet to make a single Premier League appearance for the Hammers.
The ormer Premier League Golden Boot winner spoke to Football Insider and he believes the deal has proven to be a ‘strange’ one, saying: ‘I thought it was a strange transfer when he first went there, to be honest. To have not been involved at all in the Premier League speaks volumes. It might be one of those that just hasn’t quite worked out.”
Moyes has opted for a central defensive trio this term in a change of tactic, albeit without Dawson’s presence as Aaron Cresswell has made a successful switch inside from his natural left-back role.
Now a coach, the 47-year-old former Sunderland striker suggested there may have been something spotted in Dawson’s time with the Irons. He claimed: ”David Moyes might have seen something he has not liked on the training ground and the loan deal will then be cut short in January. We might see Dawson somewhere else next year.”
READ WEST HAM VERDICT
There’s no doubt that Dawson’s move is currently clouded with a tinge of bewilderment. What looked on paper to be a solid signing at first owing to Dawson’s recent Premier League acumen has turned out to be a case of the lesser-seen man.
With a hectic Christmas schedule coming up and knee surgery ruling out Arthur Masuaku for the foreseeable future, Dawson’s opportunity may yet come at the London Stadium and Moyes would be reluctant to end the loan deal without an instant replacement lined up to come straight in.
