Bacary Sagna wants a West Ham switch

Former Arsenal right-back and current Manchester City player Bacary Sagna is looking for a return to London and would like a move to West Ham United, claims The Sun in an article today. With City looking to overhaul part of their squad, the France international appears to be surplus to requirements at the Etihad Stadium. He is apparently unsure of his contract situation, as he is out of contract in the summer and has not been approached by the club to extend his time at City. He would be available on a free transfer and has been linked with a move in the summer transfer window to the London Stadium before. The team has been consistently linked to Kévin Malcuit of St Etienne, so Sagna may just be brought in as cover for a problem position.

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Right-back has been a problem position for West Ham all season, with Sam Byram, the only true right-back on the roster besides 34 year-old Alvaro Arbeloa, out injured for much of the season. In his absence, the team has been forced into playing defensive midfielders Cheikhou Kouyaté or Håvard Nordtveit out of position. The team also used winger Michail Antonio at right back, which only seemed to neuter the Hammers attack. The other strategy that Slaven Bilić resorted to earlier in the season was the disastrous choice to use a 3-4-3 formation, which while it covered up the lack of a right back, led to more defensive problems than it fixed.

Arbeloa’s night to forget against Arsenal earlier in the season makes it extremely unlikely he will ever play in a West Ham shirt again, and Byram seems to be in Bilić’s doghouse, no matter how much promise he has shown, Byram seems unable to get a consistent run in the first team.

Bacary Sagna would be a temporary fix at best, given that his best years are clearly behind him. He would, however, give good cover for the team if they choose to hang onto Sam Byram and hope that his fitness improves to where a good run in the first ream might bring out consistently good performances, something that he has lacked up to this point. While Byram has played brilliantly at times this season, his form has been inconsistent and he looked hopelessly out-of-place when West Ham were thrashed 4 to nil in the league by Manchester City. Sagna is available on a free, and while he is currently the same age as Alvaro Arbeloa, his form for City has been pretty good, better than what West Ham usually trots out. West Ham could do worse than to get Sagna as cover, but it would be foolish to bring him in expecting him to start 30+ league games and be the first-choice right-back for the near future.