West Ham interested in Burnley’s James Tarkowski | OneFootball

West Ham remain “focused” on recruiting a new centre-back in the January transfer window, with Burnley’s James Tarkowski among the names being discussed…

What’s the story?

The Hammers have seen a number of injuries hit their central defenders over the course of this Premier League season, so it’s been no surprise to hear that David Moyes has got his sights set on strengthening that area of the pitch.

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How many Premier League goals did West Ham United score in the 2020/21 Premier League season?

57 62 67 72

Now, transfer insider Dean Jones has delivered an update on where things currently stand.

He said: “Everything I’m told about West Ham remains focused around the centre-back options that we’ve heard before. There’s Tarkowski, who will obviously be really hard to get out of Burnley, and Nat Phillips.”

Premier League proven

The 6 foot 1 colossus has made 175 appearances in the Premier League alone since joining the Clarets in February 2016, and has earned some rave reviews for his performances,

Danny Murphy once hailed him as a “super player” after an impressive performance in a victory over Everton, while Tony Philliskirk, former Head of Academy at Oldham, once told The Athletic: “He became the main man on defensive and attacking set pieces, that as a player makes you think you are an integral part of the team.

“He became that because of his level of performance. He was humble and never got ahead of himself. His confidence increased and he became a leader which we discussed with him, organising those in front of him.”

Also described as “exceptional” by his peers, the £50k-a-week earning Tarkowski is the kind of proven Premier League option that would surely be able to hit the ground running at the London Stadium were the Hammers to make a move in these final couple of weeks of the transfer window.

With Moyes’ side well in the hunt for a Champions League spot, ensuring that any new signing can acclimatise quickly and help them in that push will be crucial, and Tarkowski’s years of experience in the top-flight would make him a very shrewd acquisition.

Given the injuries they’ve had at the heart of defence this season – not least to the likes of Angelo Ogbonna and Kurt Zouma – and the fact they’ve got the Europa League knockout stages and FA Cup latter rounds to come too, it’ll be a very busy end to the season.