West Ham United are reportedly backing away from Arsenal’s Jack Wilshere.
According to The Mirror, West Ham United have cooled their interest in signing Arsenal playmaker Jack Wilshere as they seemingly line up other midfield options ahead of the transfer deadline.
The Hammers have added four players with real Premier League experience this summer, as Joe Hart, Pablo Zabaleta, Marko Arnautovic and Javier Hernandez have all arrived at the London Stadium to boost Slaven Bilic’s squad.
However, they couldn’t stop West Ham from being hammered 4-0 by Manchester United on the opening weekend of the new Premier League season, which could trigger the club to go back into the transfer market for another new signing before the transfer deadline later this month.
The Mirror report that West Ham are though cooling their interest in Arsenal midfielder Jack Wilshere, as they appear to be looking for a completely different type of player to add into Bilic’s engine room.
It’s claimed that whilst Aston Villa are making a late bid for Wilshere, West Ham are instead backing away from signing the midfielder, whose Arsenal future is up in the air given that he has just a year left on his contract at the Emirates Stadium.
Wilshere, 25, was once touted as English football’s next big thing, but has been derailed by injuries, before spending last season on loan at Bournemouth, before returning to Arsenal, where he finds himself behind the likes of Granit Xhaka and Aaron Ramsey in the midfield pecking order.
Instead, West Ham appear to be prioritising the signature of a midfield powerhouse to beef up the middle of the park, as The Mirror claim that Bilic has his eye on Benfica’s Ljubomir Fejsa, Porto’s Danilo Pereira or Sporting CP’s William Carvalho – all of whom offer strength and grit compared to Wilshere’s more technical approach.
The three names in the mix for West Ham suggest that they are looking for somebody to fill the void left by Cheikhou Kouyate’s injury, and Wilshere doesn’t particularly fit that bill, meaning he may be left looking for another offer in the final two weeks of the transfer window.
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