Why Jack Butland would be a smart signing for West Ham in January
West Ham have struggled for form since the last month or so, which has piled the pressure on manager Manuel Pellegrini. The Hammers boss will be hoping to relieve the pressure by getting his team back to winning ways in the coming weeks.
However, West Ham have some really difficult games coming up after the international break, so it’ll be a huge challenge for Pellegrini and co. to live up to the task. Out of all the problems, they have been defensively very poor over the past six weeks.
The East London outfit have been without first-choice keeper Lukasz Fabianski, who was injured last month. Fabianski’s deputy, Roberto, has struggled and conceded 11 goals in the last five games.
Roberto is quite clearly not good enough to play in the Premier League and West Ham simply cannot afford to drop any more points due to a lack of quality in the goalkeeping department.
However, it remains to be seen whether or not Pellegrini hands third-choice David Martin a chance. Whilst he is totally unproven, he cannot be any worse than Roberto. Nevertheless, West Ham must look to bring in a new goalkeeper in January to not only compete with Fabianski once he recovers, but also replace him in the future.
Back in September 2018, West Ham were installed as the favourites to sign Stoke City goalkeeper Jack Butland by Ladbrokes (h/t The Sun).
Jack Butland, 26, has stayed loyal to Stoke City despite the club’s relegation from the top-flight last year. A season in the Championship has seen his stock fall and despite being linked with a big-money move to Europe in the summer (for around £32m) a move didn’t materialise in the end. (h/t Stoke Sentinel)
With Stoke City currently in the relegation zone, West Ham would get no better chance to test the Championship club’s resolve with an audacious bid for Butland in January.
Butland is a proven Premier League goalkeeper with excellent reflexes and good distribution skills. He may have made errors for the Potters in the Championship this season but with a change of scenery and a better defence in front of him, the England international could prove the current season is just a blip.
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The 26-year-old is more than capable of being a very good first-choice option for a Premier League side and should be signed by West Ham in a bid to solve their problem between the sticks.
Verdict
Having spent a year in the Championship, Butland would be better off joining a top-flight side in January in order to boost his Euro 2020 chances. And a move to West Ham would be ideal for him.
