West Ham have reportedly opened talks to sign Chelsea defender Emerson Palmieri, with the Blues keen to sell the Italian international following the arrival of Marc Cucurella from Brighton & Hove Albion.
According to the Guardian, David Moyes is eager to sign a left-back who can compete with West Ham veteran Aaron Cresswell, with Atalanta and Nottingham Forest also interested in Emerson, who Chelsea are opening to selling this summer for just £13m.
The defender impressed for Olympique Lyonnais last season on loan, and interest has remained high in the Brazilian-born fullback this summer, though West Ham have seemingly taken a resounding lead in the race to sign the former AS Roma superstar.
Labelled by Thomas Tuchel as a player with ‘unbelievable’ qualities, Emerson could be an outstanding signing for West Ham this season and could follow a similar success story on the pitch to Kurt Zouma, who has established himself as one of the Irons’ most important players since arriving from the west London side last year.
With West Ham also close to signing Thilo Kehrer from PSG, the Hammers are making strong strides in the market to improve their defensive options, something that is greatly needed after the east London side lost their opening Premier League games to Manchester City and Forest.
Whilst Emerson might struggle to usurp Cresswell in the starting XI, the Italian’s age and dynamism makes him an ideal long-term replacement for the West Ham defender, and qualification for the UEFA Europa Conference League could guarantee the Italian plenty of chances to impress this season for the Irons.
Emerson could prove to be a shrewd signing for West Ham this season
West Ham are moving fast this week to reinforce their defensive options with the signings of Kehrer and Emerson, and for the Hammers, the Italian defender could be one of the more impressive moves of the window if the 28-year-old impresses away from Chelsea.
Indeed, a quality backup to Cresswell will be important for West Ham if they’re to once again challenge for European football, and Emerson provides that and then some for the east London side, with the defender arguably in contention to replace the long-serving London Stadium left-back at some point this season.
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