West Ham United have reportedly entered the race to sign 16-year-old Scottish prodigy Charlie McArthur, who is also wanted by Brighton and Wolves.
According to the Daily Record, Kilmarnock starlet Charlie McArthur is attracting serious interest from the Premier League, with David Moyes’s West Ham United among the clubs keen on signing the teenage defender.
McArthur came through the youth ranks at Kilmarnock and even made his first-team breakthrough at Rugby Park in the ongoing campaign. Indeed, the 16-year-old has featured three times for the Killies, with each of those appearances coming in the Challenge Cup.
While he has not seen much senior footballing action, McArthur is already gathering a lot of admirers from the Premier League. West Ham United have emerged as suitors for the teenager, who has played eight matches for the Scotland Under-17 side and even captains the team.
West Ham United are on the lookout for defensive reinforcements heading into the summer as they look to replace Angelo Ogbonna, who has been sidelined with an injury this term and will be out of contract at the end of the season.
??????? Congratulations to @ScotlandNT #U17s and @KFCYouthAcademy Charlie McArthur.
Charlie captained the home side in their ?-? win last night against Georgia, to qualify for the #U17 Finals ?? #kfcyouthacademy #killieyouth pic.twitter.com/nfqhx22dn8
— Kilmarnock FC Youth Academy (@KFCYouthAcademy) March 30, 2022
Craig Dawson and Kurt Zouma have formed a solid defensive pairing at the London Stadium, but the former is on the wrong side of his thirty already. So, West Ham will have to start planning for the future. They are expected to bring in a new, proven defender in the summer transfer window who can slot in right away into the first-team setup at the east London club.
Nikola Milenkovic has emerged as a top target for the role, with West Ham believed to be the front-runners for the Serbian international. At the same time, they are also looking at former Liverpool defender Dejan Lovren as an option and are prepared to hand him a two-year deal to offer him a way out of Russia.
While either of the two names above would be ready to make an immediate impact at the first-team level, someone like McArthur is being targeted with an eye on the future. The 16-year-old can be groomed with the Under-18s and the reserves before being pushed to take over from Dawson two or three years down the line.
However, West Ham face serious competition for McArthur from Wolves and Brighton, with the latter even preparing to launch an offer of £275,000 for the Scottish youngster. So, it remains to be seen if West Ham can clinch the deal for the 16-year-old or are beaten by Brighton in the race to sign him.
