West Ham could make millions selling FLOP to the anti-Lampard
Cameron Smith
- Updated: 25 Aug 2023 12:42 BST
- 5 min read
West Ham could be set for a surprise influx of money following interest from Bayern Munich in German defender Thilo Kehrer.
Kehrer, 26, joined the Hammers from Paris Saint-Germain in 2022, but could be on his way towards the exit door after just one season in the Premier League after news that Bayern are keen to sign him.
The Daily Mail have reported that Thomas Tuchel is the driving force behind the transfer as he wants to sign a replacement for Benjamin Pavard that he has previously worked with.
READ MORE: Premier League 2023/24 summer transfers: All the Done Deals
Tuchel signed Kehrer for €37 million from Schalke in his first transfer window at PSG and reportedly sees the 26-year-old as a possible replacement for Pavard.
Kehrer has three years left on his West Ham contract, meaning the Premier League side are likely to demand more than the €12m they spent to sign him last year and close to his €21.3m Estimated Transfer Value (ETV).
Bayern’s pursuit of Kehrer comes despite his poor first campaign in England, which followed an uninspiring four years at PSG.
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However, Tuchel’s reported drive to sign the 27-capped Germany international will come as little surprise to Chelsea fans, many of whom were angered by their former boss’ talent identification and squad-building capabilities.
Thomas Tuchel is the opposite of Frank Lampard
While Frank Lampard hasn’t performed well in his last two jobs (Chelsea interim and Everton), his talent identification is impressive.
He was the driving force behind Chelsea’s pursuit of Declan Rice following their transfer ban, convinced an ageing Thiago Silva to join the club and he identified the emerging talents of Fikayo Tomori, Mason Mount, Reece James and Tammy Abraham and gave them a chance in the Blues first-team.
In fact, Crystal Palace moved to sign James for around £25m upon selling Aaron Wan-Bissaka to Manchester United and Chelsea were reportedly happy to sanction the move before Lampard intervened. James is now, of course, Chelsea club captain and one of the best right-backs in world football.
The problem was, Lampard wasn’t good enough tactically to fit them into the best possible system.
As for Tuchel, he is the complete opposite - an excellent coach but someone who is poor at identifying talents.
He pushed to sign Saul Niguez on loan from Atletico Madrid during his time at Chelsea, rather than sign Aurelien Tchouameni, and prioritised Malang Sarr’s game-time over Levi Colwill’s in pre-season ahead of the 2022-23 season, which almost cost the Blues one of the most talented young English defenders of the last decade.
Furthermore, he demanded Chelsea sign Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang last summer and played a key role in the purchase of Marc Cucurella, a move that has not worked out for the Blues.
West Ham, however, could be set to benefit from this as Bayern’s reliance on Tuchel’s input on transfers - following the firings of sporting director Hasan Salihamidžić and CEO Oliver Kahn - means Kehrer may earn the Hammers a small fortune this summer.
