Manuel Pellegrini wants to be reunited with Manchester City defender Nicolas Otamendi, but West Ham could be priced out of a deal, according to TNT Sports, via Forever West Ham.
Otamendi is said to be looking for a route out of Manchester due to a lack of game time, with Valencia interested in him.
However, City are reportedly demanding €25m (£23m) for the Argentine, a fee the Hammers may be unable to pay.
Otamendi started 14 Premier League matches last season, coming off the bench four times to help Man City win the title.
He averaged 1.4 tackles, 1.6 interceptions, 3.1 clearances and 0.2 blocks, while committing 0.4 fouls and being dribbled past 0.2 times a game, as per WhoScored.
Issa Diop and Fabian Balbuena were the Hammers’ main centre-back pairing last season, starting 33 and 23 league games last season respectively.
Otamendi didn’t overcome either West Ham man in tackles, interceptions clearances or blocks per game, though that can partly be put down to the fact Man City spent more time on the ball with 64% possession to West Ham’s 49%.
That can also be signified by the fact he was dribbled past less regularly than the Frenchman and Paraguayan, meaning fewer scenarios where he had to recover and make a tackle.
It is debatable whether West Ham should spend £23 million on Otamendi.
He is 31-years-old and West Ham have other areas they could do with strengthening, so they may be better off signing a cheaper centre-back and splitting the money across various positions.
As well as that, in Diop and Balbuena, they already have two first-choice central defenders Pellegrini trusts given the amount of appearances they made last season.
West Ham fans, should the club make a play for Otamendi this summer? Let us know what you think by commenting below!
