West Ham could ‘absolutely’ convince Man Utd man to join, though ‘stumbling block’ identified
Alan Hutton believes Aaron Wan-Bissaka could “absolutely” be willing to join West Ham United, though the Manchester United full-back’s fee may become a “stumbling block”.
Wan-Bissaka’s role has dwindled since his first two seasons at United. Indeed, he played 35 times in the Premier League in his first season, followed by 34 games the next campaign.
Last season, he managed just 20 league appearances, and as yet this term has played only 12 times. Diogo Dalot has been the preferred option on the right side of the defence in the last couple of seasons.
Wan-Bissaka’s appearances this term have largely come as a result of the unavailability of the Portuguese.
As such, he might be looking for other opportunities. In December, transfer insider Fabrizio Romano named Wolves, West Ham and Crystal Palace as sides who were interested in taking the defender on board.
The Hammers have once again cropped up, with former Premier League full-back Hutton suggesting they could be able to convince Wan-Bissaka into a move.
“Absolutely,” he told Football Insider.
“If we are talking about just as a defender, West Ham need to strengthen and there is no doubt he is one of the best 1v1 defenders that there is as a full-back.
“The problem he has got at Man United is that you need to do that but you need to go forward and create in the final third. That is not his strength.”
It seems as if Hutton thinks West Ham would be interested in the full-back. However, he feels Wan-Bissaka’s price tag could be a problem for them.
“If West Ham were to stay up I think it could be an interesting move for them, I think he could definitely make them better but the fee is going to be the big thing, probably a stumbling block,” Hutton added.
“He has done well under [Erik] Ten Hag so will Man United be willing to sell him and what would the fee be? They are the big questions.”
The question of whether United would sell has apparently already been answered. Indeed, Football Insider recently reported Ten Hag has told Wan-Bissaka he’s ‘free to leave’ in the summer.
United paid £50million for him in 2019, so they’d be looking to recoup some of that. However, that Wan-Bissaka has just one year left on his deal means they’d surely not be able to demand a huge sum.
As such, were West Ham to pursue him, they could have a good shot at the transfer.
