West Ham United were by far the busiest Premier League in this summer’s transfer window but even after it has ended, they are not backing down and continue to explore opportunities to revamp their side.
According to The Times, the Hammers are ‘weighing up’ a swoop for Mats Hummels before the Premier League’s registration deadline of September 13th given that he is still a free agent.
The German central defender left Borussia Dortmund following the end of last season after captaining them to the Champions League final and remains without a club following the transfer window.
He has been linked with the likes of AS Roma and Real Sociedad in recent weeks, while West Ham are reported to be the latest entrants in the race to acquire his services.
The Hammers have been defeated twice in their three Premier League games so far in the season and they could do with some defensive additions with Konstantinos Mavropanos failing to impress.
Hummels would be a good short-term fix
Mats Hummels was one of the best defenders in the world last season as he helped Dortmund in reaching the Champions League final with a man of the match display in their second leg clash against Paris Saint-Germain in the semi-final of the competition.
The 35-year-old is also a seasoned pro in Europe having won the Bundesliga title five times, thrice with Bayern Munich and twice with Borussia Dortmund.
He has never played in the Premier League before so he could welcome the experience of joining a promising side like West Ham, where he would also reunite with former club and country teammate, Niklas Fullkrug.
Given that he remains without an employer at this stage of the season, Julen Lopetegui’s side could be able to leverage the situation by signing the World Cup winner on a relatively lower wage and short-term contract too.
Hummels would be a significant upgrade over Mavropanos, keeping in mind how poorly the former Arsenal star has performed since the season started and it will be interesting to see what developments occur with his future in the upcoming days.
