Winston Reid has missed more than a year through injury, and in that time seen Issa Diop and Fabian Balbuena become the established men in Manuel Pellegrini’s backline.
Even Angelo Ogbonna has found a key role for himself under our Chilean boss, leaving former captain Reid’s imminent return to action the last chance saloon for the former New Zealand international to prove he can still offer something to the Hammers.
Football.London are reporting that Pellegrini will give Reid a chance to prove his fitness levels in the upcoming pre-season schedule, as he has so far only been able to take note of what the £6.3million-rated 30-year-old is capable of through limited training sessions. The boss is, however, firmly looking at the transfer market for a new central-defender who can help us improve our ability to keep clean sheets.
The name that regularly fills the back pages for this role is Alaves’ Guillermo Maripan, who Football.London are now claiming could be available for as little as £10million. That’s despite the La Liga outfit’s Sports Director Sergio Fernandez previously stating he would only sell the Chilean for his €25million (£21.4m) release clause.
Our upcoming pre-season schedule is not only the last chance saloon for Reid, as it is also noted that Josh Cullen and Edimilson Fernandes will both be offered the chance to earn a role for themselves in the boss’ plans for next season.
Cullen adamantly stated recently that he wants to become a first-team regular at the London Stadium, and that he would not be staying with loan-side Charlton Athletic beyond the current campaign.
If he fails to impress Pellegrini once our crest adorns his kit again, though, you would imagine this is the end of the line for the Westcliff-on-Sea-born midfielder in East London, as Cullen has only featured for 512 minutes as a Hammer despite joining the senior set-up in 2015.
As for Fernandes, his middle of the road loan spell in the Serie A has failed to impress Fiorentina enough to trigger their £8million option-to-buy, and he will instead return to England once the season draws to a close, having scored and assisted twice in the Italian top-flight.
