West Ham have made a strange start to the season.
The Hammers have lost to both Newcastle United and Arsenal in the Premier League, though they beat Wolves 4-0.
They had progressed to the Round of 16 in the EFL Cup, though they were beaten 4-1 by Everton at Goodison Park earlier this week.
Manager David Moyes has also contracted COVID-19, as have players Issa Diop and Josh Cullen, meaning that Alan Irvine has been on the touchline in the last two games.
He is likely to again be in charge at the weekend against Leicester City, a game which comes a day before the transfer deadline on Monday.
The Hammers have signed just Tomas Soucek – converting his loan into a permanent deal – and Vladimir Coufal, the latter a right-back who joined on Friday.
As the deadline approaches, one feels that the Irons need to sign a centre-back, with Moyes even admitting that defenders are needed.
And it appears that work is underway.
Sky Sports reports that the club have made a £20m bid for Marseille centre-back Duje Caleta-Car.
The 24-year-old has been with the French club since 2018, when he moved from RB Salzburg for a fee of £15m.
He has been a key member of the squad since then, making 57 appearances in total, while he has also won six caps for Croatia.
It remains to be seen if the bid will be accepted but time is running out for the Irons to sign a centre-back with the transfer deadline looming.
GIVEMESPORT’S Harry Sherlock says…
This is a bit of a left-field link.
Caleta-Car has not been mooted as a potential target throughout the summer, but now the Irons seem to have made a bid.
The 24-year-old is a potentially excellent acquisition if West Ham can get the deal over the line.
Per WhoScored, in 2019/20, Caleta-Car made 23 Ligue 1 appearances last season, averaging 1.3 tackles, 1.2 interceptions, 4.1 clearances, and a passing accuracy of 86.7%, including 3.5 long balls.
This is a defender capable of doing the tough stuff when it comes to winning the ball back, and also distributing it effectively.
If the transfer can be completed, this would be a fine piece of business.