West Ham face a challenge holding onto Aaron Cresswell with Everton keen but should the Merseyside giants be after his Hammers teammate instead?
Everton’s search for a new left-back has taken them far and wide this month.
After heading to the Bundesliga in search of a Philipp Max or a Juan Bernat, however, it appears that they are looking at options closer to home. And according to The Mail, West Ham’s Aaron Cresswell is one of the names in the frame to fill the void in Everton’s defence.
Cresswell, the Liverpool-born England international, is known and admired by Everton manager Sam Allardyce, who brought him to the Premier League from Ipswich Town in the summer of 2014.
So you can see while Cresswell would appeal. He is not only a local lad but has proved himself in England’s top flight and, blessed with a wand of a left foot and an excellent cross, could one day replace the ageing Leighton Baines.
But the reality is that Cresswell is not even the best left-back at West Ham right now. The 28-year-old has been upstaged by Arthur Masuaku in recent weeks, so much so that Cresswell has even been forced to adopt a new role in a back-three system.
Masuaku looked like a real flop in a poor first season at West Ham but has now settled down to become a key player for the Hammers. The 24-year-old is now a regular in the side with his buccaneering style and confidence on the ball earning him plenty of admirers from inside and outside the London Stadium.
The Frenchman is a different sort of full-back, more athletic and adventurous and not quite cut from the same cloth as Baines.
But if Allardyce is looking to his former club for a new left-back, he should make sure he is getting the right one.
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