West Ham ditch attacking obsession and target Arsenal defender

West Ham are obviously quite content with the attacking state of their squad, as they’ve switched their attentions to the back four according to the latest transfer reports.

Having been told in no uncertain terms to make the Hammers more pleasing on the eye, Sam Allardyce went right out and flashed the cash, bringing in former Birmingham loanee Mauro Zarate, new attacking coach Teddy Sheringham and World Cup hit Enner Valencia.

It hasn’t taken long for the pragmatic manager to return to his first true love though, and it looks like right-back is his next position to strengthen.

Elsewhere in the Premier League’s London fraternity, that same position of the pitch has been a hot-topic, with Arsenal losing Bacary Sagna to Manchester City and nabbing Newcastle’s Mathieu Debuchy to replace him.

It seems hardly a second’s thought was given to the possibility of long-time deputy Carl Jenkinson stepping up into a regular first team role and Allardyce is looking to exploit that fact.

Working on the premise that Jenkinson’s nose will have been put of joint by being overlooked as Sagna’s replacement, the Hammers want to offer the England man a chance to play regularly for them and prove he’s deserving of a national recall.

The 22-year-old’s only England cap to date came way back in 2012 and, with ambitions of adding to that tally, he may decide that moving away from the Arsenal bench is his best chance of doing that.

He’d certainly be offered chances to play in east London, as West Ham only have Guy Demel on their books who regularly plays at right-back, with utility man Joey O’Brien used as his deputy.

West Ham are 7/1 with Ladbrokes for relegation, but if they continue to work this ambitiously in the transfer market, are sure to see that price lengthen when the season kicks off.

All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.

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