West Ham United begin a new era following the departure of David Moyes.
Euro 2024 might be taking centre stage right now, but pre-season is around the corner and the new Premier League fixtures have hit our shelves.
West Ham United will face Aston Villa on the opening day of the 24/25 Premier League season and new boss Julen Lopetegui will have to deal with one Ollie Watkins.
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The England international, who is currently at Euro 2024, scored 19 league goals last term and was one of the best players across Europe, never mind just in England.
Watkins scored and assisted against the Hammers, so they will have to be wary of him when he is as fresh as ever for the opening game.
To deal with him, Lopetegui will need his centre-backs on point and there is talk that they want to sign Wolves defender Max Kilman, as HITC revealed.
The 27-year-old did wonders under Lopetegui at Molineux, so it shouldn’t be a surprise that the Spaniard wants him to make the switch to the London Stadium.
Watkins was speaking about the most underrated opponents he has come up against and he mentioned the now-departed Chelsea star, Thiago Silva.
But when he was asked to name someone a little less known, given that Silva is a legend of the game, he then put forward the name of Kilman.
The Villa man expressed that he is a ‘top player’, so it’s high praise from one of Europe’s best.
Ollie Watkins praises Max Kilman amid West Ham interest
“Max Kilman,” responded Watkins on an underrated player he has played against. “I think he is a top player. I would go for him.”
Max Kilman under Julen Lopetegui
If the Hammers put their money where their mouth is then there is every chance that they can land the signature of the Englishman, but Tottenham have also been told to sign him.
And if everything goes well from there on, then he should be coming up against Watkins next season.
READ MORE: West Ham and Everton in talks for 19-goal star as Southampton hope £20m is enough
West Ham want to get back into Europe after two abject Premier League campaigns, even if one of them resulted in them winning the Conference League.
A player like Kilman might not be European-proven, but he still enhances that West Ham backline because it was one of their biggest issues last term.
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