West Ham United have been mooted with a possible move for Porto captain Hector Herrera recently.
According to a report by the Daily Express, we are thought to have expressed an interest in the Mexico international as he continues to run his contract down with the Portuguese outfit and is expected to leave on a free transfer in the next few days.
However, it would seem that he is set to join Atletico Madrid this summer (Mundo Deportivo via Medio Tiempo) although the La Liga outfit have not yet confirmed any such deal.
And, for that reason, West Ham must look to use the little time they have on their side (should a deal not have already been completed) to convince Herrera to join them in the Premier League this summer instead.
The 29-year-old would be an incredible capture for us and one that could bring us plenty of benefits if he were to join us at the London Stadium. The Mexican has bundles of talent and would certainly help to bolster our midfield options ten-fold with the ability and skill he possesses.
Arguably, we lack a little depth in the middle of the park in terms of a box-to-box midfielder and the Latino would clearly fit the bill for Manuel Pellegrini. He can play in a number of different positions, including as a defensive midfielder and would surely have to be considered a game-changing signing for us.
Indeed, he can also be utilised further forward, which could be more beneficial for the Hammers, as he has an excellent passing range and can play some exquisite balls through to the front line. If he were to be deployed as a number 10, Herrera could also be able to provide a source of goals to the club as he is comfortable in shooting from distance, having scored nine times and provided three assists in his 53 appearances across all competitions this season for Porto (Transfermarkt).
He is unlikely to have any problems settling into life in the Premier League as he has a vast amount of experience of playing in elite competitions, whilst he could be the statement signing of the summer to really show our ambitious intent.
His wages would not be something that could cause us trouble if we were to try and convince him a move to the London Stadium would be the next step for his career as it is thought he would want to earn €3million a year (£2.7m) which equates to just under £52,000-a-week – whilst we would save loads on transfer fees as a free agent.
However, whether the time is on our side to complete a deal is something that remains to be seen as Atletico would clearly be able to offer Herrera a better standard of competition with the Champions League and the possibility of going for silverware.
But, surely it should still be worth Pellegrini and Mario Husillos’ time in trying to hijack a potential move this summer.
