Slaven Bilic's West Brom are top of the Championship table. (Getty Images)
Slaven Bilic will not be happy with the way his side performed in the league last season. He will be desperate to add some quality and help them in their journey next season and has been linked with some exciting players recently. One such player Slaven Bilic is now extensively looking at is Manchester United outcast Chris Smalling.
English news outfit Daily Star has now come out with a story that West Ham United are ready to make an opening bid of £10m for Chris Smalling, just a day after it was reported that Jose Mourinho, the current Manchester United manager is ready to sell him this summer.
Smalling was the first choice centre-back for previous United manager Louis van Gaal but he has fallen down the pecking order under Jose Mourinho. With the introduction of Victor Lindelof, he is now regarded as surplus to requirements at Old Trafford.
A product of the Lordswood academy, Smalling moved to Manchester United from Fulham back in 2010 and has made more than 150 league appearances for the Red Devils. A smart centre-back who relies on his knowledge of the opposition to stop them, Smalling is a strong defender who is dominant in the air.
He is comfortable with the ball at his feet but does not like to take too many risks at the back and avoids getting his team into trouble. His stature is a problem for the opponents during set-pieces and in short, he is everything that a club in England needs in a defender.
With 31 national appearances for England, the 27-year old is an experienced centre-back who would walk into the first team at the Olympic Stadium. Bilic has stuck to a 3-4-3 system that needs three quality centre-halves defending his goal next season. Jose Fonte, who joined the club in January, is expected to be the first choice next season while 28-year old Winston Reid was also terrific at the back.
James Collins covered for the injuries late last season, but he is now 33 and will need to be replaced sooner than later. Angelo Ogbonna is the other centre-back in the squad. He was superb at the start of the season but picked up a season-ending injury halfway through the season. He is 29 and is nowhere near the quality of Smalling, making it perfect for the United man to take over matters.
Smalling has hardly played as a part of a three-man defence at club level but he has done that to good effect for the national side and should not take too long to adjust to the new role. He may not be an immediate necessity at the club but is as good an option as any for the Hammers and they should not miss out on this opportunity to shore up their backline.
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