Harry Maguire could be an ‘absolute hero’ at West Ham United but Tony Cottee has doubts about whether the Premier League outfit really needed another centre-half.
While West Ham are yet to agree personal terms with the former Manchester United captain – a player David Moyes has admired from afar for a decade now – the expectation is that Harry Maguire will be wearing claret-and-blue by the time the clock strikes midnight on September 1st.
And Hammers legend Cottee would not be surprised to see Maguire kick-start his career in new surroundings; the former Leicester ace better suited to Moyes’ rather reactionary, counter-attacking gameplan while potentially inheriting the armband from the departed Declan Rice.
“I think it’s a good signing. Potentially he will be the captain. (Giving him the armband) might have been part of the negotiations,” Cottee tells talkSPORT (10 August, 11am). “I like centre-haves who are captains.
“He is a good player. You watch him in the World Cup, he’s a good player. Of course he’s had a bad time at Manchester United but he can be an absolute hero (at West Ham).
“The fans will love him.”
Harry Maguire leaving Man United for West Ham
Cottee does, however, has doubts about whether Maguire really is £30 million well spent. With Kurt Zouma, Nayef Aguerd, Angelo Ogbonna and Thilo Kehrer already at David Moyes’ disposal, the former West Ham frontman wonders if that money would have been better invested at the other end of the pitch.
Particularly after Gianluca Scamacca departed for Atalanta.
“My only question is; do West Ham need another centre half?,” Cottee asks. “They need a goalscorer.
“The centre-forward fiasco… The current owners have been at the club since 2010 they’ve signed 51 forwards in 13 years, and the best have been Andy Carroll, Jarrod Bowen who is not really a centre-forward and Carlton Cole. There’s not been too many successes.
“West ham need a goalscorer,” adds Cottee, who is still the most recent Hammers player to break the 20-goal barrier in a league season. And that came all the way back in 1987.
“If you want to push on and seriously try and get to the Champions League, you need someone to try and score 20 league goals. The last player to do that, unfortunately, was me.
“I am proud of that, but its no good to West Ham.”
Moyes’ side are also set to sign James Ward-Prowse from Southampton and Ajax’s Edson Alvarez.
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