West Ham must now secure Man United transfer after landing £35m windfall | OneFootball

West Ham United must try to sign Manchester United defender Harry Amass to replace El Hadji Malick Diouf.

West Ham United may well be in for a busy end to the summer transfer window, and they should now push to try a new left-back from Man United after the departure of El Hadji Malick Diouf.

Following their relegation from the Premier League, the Hammers are one of the red-hot favourites for the Championship title – especially after keeping hold of manager Nuno Espírito Santo and captain Jarrod Bowen.

The Irons have not been convincing at the start of this season, though, needing to come from behind to win two EFL Cup ties while also giving up a two-goal lead against Burnley on the opening weekend of the league season and then losing at home to London rivals Charlton Athletic.

Simple teething issues will explain most of their early issues and there is still an expectation that the squad that they boast will eventually ease to promotion back to the top-flight.

That squad does still have its areas where improvement is required and United defender Harry Amass would be ideal in plugging one of those holes.

Harry Amass must be West Ham’s replacement at left-back

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This summer has seen West Ham earn big money with the sales of Mateus Fernandes and Crysencio Summerville – and now El Hadji Malick Diouf has been added to the list.

The Senegal international full-back, who came through at Slavia Prague as a wing-back before moving to West Ham last summer, has moved to Brentford for a fee believed to be in the region of £35 million.

Adapting to life as an out-and-out full-back, Diouf was one of few bright spots for the Hammers as they succumbed to their relegation last season.

His departure always felt slightly inevitable and that is perhaps why Nuno has opted thus far to leave him on the bench to start with against Burnley and then out of the squad against Charlton.

Now that he has officially left the building, though, West Ham can properly plan and get on with life after Diouf – and finding a replacement for him at left-back will be key and should see their search fall to Harry Amass.

Ollie Scarles, who has come through West Ham’s academy and has now become something of a first-team regular, has been the man trusted at left-back for now, but an upgrade is required and expected – and Amass fits the bill.

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In the 2017-18 season, Wolverhampton Wanderers romped to the Championship title under the management of Nuno – famously exclusively playing a back-three system with wing-backs.

He has since moved away from that in recent years and has played a 4-2-3-1 or a 4-4-2 system while in charge of West Ham – as has been the case at the start of this season.

Amass, a strong defender but also someone who earned rave reviews at Sheffield Wednesday in the first half of last season for his ability to get forward, would be ideal for any way in which Nuno aims to setup moving forward.

The 19-year-old defender is something of an out-and-out full-back, therefore ideally suited to the 4-2-3-1, and Ruben Amorim preferred not to use him in his wing-back system, loaning him out to Sheffield Wednesday and then to Norwich City – but the attributes to play as a wing-back are there.

Making 21 appearances for The Owls last season, Amass stole the show in a squad that had been decimated following administration – leading to his departure from Hillsborough and move to Norwich.

Injuries scuppered his time at Carrow Road but the England U19 international remains a highly-rated prospect and, for resale value as well as what he will immediately deliver on the pitch, West Ham should do all they can to bring him in.

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It would be quite easy for clubs coming down from the Premier League that are the size of West Ham and with the budget of West Ham to spend unnecessarily and on players that are not suited to the level.

It has happened in the past where teams become bloated and struggle to find the right squad cohesion to compete in the second-tier – but, likely helped by Nuno’s experience in the EFL, West Ham have not done that.

They have been deliberate and relatively circumspect in the market, only really bringing players in to properly strengthen things – and that has certainly been the case.

The big money addition of Arne Engels from Celtic is perhaps the biggest but only risk that West Ham have taken alongside the signings of Championship specialists such as Manor Solomon, Joel Piroe and veteran defender Joel Veltman.

Harry Amass would again fall into that category of being a smart addition – and one that West Ham in the past may not have opted for or looked at.