West Ham United have reached out to Aston Villa in their pursuit to sign 26-year-old centre back Kortney Hause.
According to Football Insider, high-flying West Ham United have approached Aston Villa for the services of centre-back Kortney Hause.
The 26-year-old made a name for himself at Wycombe Wanderers and Wolverhampton Wanderers before joining Villa on loan in 2019. His performances were deemed good enough to make the deal permanent later that year. Hause has since made 53 appearances for the Villans, scoring four goals. Primarily a centre-back, he is versatile enough to do a job at left-back.
As things stand, Hause’s contract at Villa Park expires in the summer of 2022. The club, however, have the option to trigger a one-year extension. Whether this will see them sell the player for a generous fee this month remains to be seen.
While West Ham have impressed, they also have the joint-worst defence amongst the top nine clubs in the Premier League after 20 matches this season. The Hammers have let in several silly goals and must tighten things up at the back.
Injuries to Kurt Zouma and Angelo Ogbonna have left David Moyes shorthanded when it comes to options at the heart of his defence. With Arthur Masuaku and Ben Johnson struggling to fill in for the injured Aaron Cresswell, Moyes could even utilize Hause in the left-back position. Another alternative is for the Hammers boss to deploy Hause in a three-man defence.
While it is debatable how the Scotsman plans to use the 26-year-old, it goes without saying that signing Hause will hand West Ham several new possibilities. Currently behind Ezri Konsa and Tyrone Mings in the Villa pecking order, a move to West Ham could also hand the 26-year-old more playing time.
Villa are open to selling the 26-year-old, provided they can land a replacement for him first. The chances of Hause making it under Steven Gerrard are slim, and a change of scenery could do him good.
The Hammers, meanwhile, are pushing for European qualification and a strong latter half to the campaign will see them retain continental participation for the second season in a row. Moyes’ squad is thin however, and could do with a few select reinforcements in the January transfer window.
Hause might not be the most eye-catching signing, but he has the physicality and the ability to be a decent player for the Hammers. More so, Moyes has shown the ability to get the best out of his players at West Ham and could go on to work his magic on the former England Under-21 star.
