West Ham are keen on signing Nottingham Forest defender Joe Worrall this summer, as reported by The Sun on Sunday (May 2nd, Page 61) via Hammers.News.

What's the latest news on Joe Worrall?

It has been claimed that the Hammers have already reached out to Forest about Worrall's availability at the end of the season.

According to the Daily Mirror, West Ham would have to pay in the region of £10m to land their man.

What are Worrall's stats this season?

Worrall has featured in 30 Championship games for Forest in 2020/21, and has recorded some impressive statistics along the way.

As per WhoScored, he has made 126 clearances and blocked 27 shots on goal. No West Ham player has been able to match these numbers.

Forest have had an underwhelming campaign, and are currently down in 16th place in the table. However, with Worrall at the back, they have managed to concede fewer goals than any other side outside the top four in the division.

Who are West Ham's current centre-backs?

David Moyes has used Craig Dawson, Angelo Ogbonna, Fabian Balbuena and Issa Diop at centre-back this season.

However, Dawson and Ogbonna will turn 31 and 33 respectively this month, whilst Balbuena is out of contract in the summer and looks set to depart the east London club.

With this in mind, it is no surprise that the Irons are looking to bring in some reinforcements in this area of the pitch.

Has conceding goals been a problem for West Ham in 2020/21?

Recently, yes. 

After 28 league games, West Ham had conceded 32 goals. To put this in perspective, Manchester United had conceded the same number of goals at the same stage of the season.

West Ham's defensive solidity seems to have evaporated in the last five matches, though. In their final game in March, they blew a three-goal lead against Arsenal, eventually having to settle for a 3-3 draw.

They shipped a further two goals in both games against Wolves and Leicester to kick-off April, and then let in three in a shock 3-2 defeat to Newcastle.

Their last outing against Chelsea was a quieter affair, but Moyes' men still conceded the only goal of the game. In total, Lukasz Fabianski has been beaten on 11 occasions in his last five appearances.

Meanwhile, Worrall has been part of one of the strongest defences in the Championship, and appears primed to step up to the top-flight. 

At 24, he is still likely to have his best years ahead of him, and could help Moyes solve a problem that has suddenly crept up on West Ham in their last five games.