‘Whatever happened to John?’ – Moyes in shameful Kehrer blunder
Robin Bairner
- 20 Aug 2022 14:59 BST
- 3 min read
West Ham manager David Moyes has admitted that he is struggling to get to terms with new signing Thilo Kehrer’s name.
The Germany international defender has arrived at the London Stadium from PSG this summer, with West Ham agreeing a €12m fee with the Parisians for the 25-year-old.
Given that FootballTransfers rates Kehrer’s value at €14m, it appears that the Hammers have gotten themselves a bargain, but there’s just one hitch – Moyes admits that he’s struggling to remember the name of his new charge.
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“I’ve been calling him Theo. I've been calling him everything! Whatever happened to John? They think I’m losing it. I’m calling him all sorts. I’ll have to get him a nickname, I’ll call him T,” the former Manchester United manager admitted in quotes relayed by The Mirror.
Moyes is not the first Premier League manager to have trouble with names.
Another former Man Utd boss Louis van Gaal infamously called Chris Smalling ‘Mike’ to the media on at least two occasions.
Thilo Kehrer: The new Phil Neville?
Nevertheless, Moyes has no doubts over the quality of the player.
“We were watching him sometimes at right-back and left-back for PSG, sometimes the same for Germany.
“I'd watch him play centre-back for PSG sometimes but they had so much of the ball you didn't see how he was under pressure that much. But he's very confident with both feet and he's going to give me a lot of help at full-back going forwards.”
"We've seen enough from him already to suggest that he's got a lot of things going for him and hopefully he will help us."
The Boss on whether Gianluca Scamacca will have an impact on the Premier League:#WHUBHA | #TalkingPoint with @LycamobileUK pic.twitter.com/JZy7I0EdOq— West Ham United (@WestHam) August 20, 2022
Indeed, he sees comparisons between Kehrer and Phil Neville, who came through the ranks at Manchester United and was a mainstay at Everton.
“Nev could play midfield, right-back and centre back as well,” he said.
“He was a great leader more than anything and obviously learnt his traits from the people he'd watched at United. He was a great leader and Thilo has a bit of that about him as well.”
Kehrer could debut for West Ham against Brighton on Sunday.
