West Ham to pounce for proven PL defender, available for free after contract clause not triggered – reports
By Danny Wright
West Ham will try to sign Glen Johnson in the summer after he failed to play enough games to trigger a contract extension at Stoke, according to a report.
The Sun reports that the 32-year-old PL defender will not be able to make enough appearances before the end of the campaign to give himself a further year at the Bet365 Stadium.
Crystal Palace are also keeping tabs on Johnson as ex-Hammers boss Sam Allardyce wants to add depth to the right-back area of his squad.
According to a previous report from the Sun, the east London club wanted to sign him during the winter transfer window for £1million.
The right-back area has been a constant problem for West Ham and Cheikhou Kouyate has been forced to play out of position in the role for most of this season with Michail Antonio doing most of the work there last year.
Johnson, who began his career at West Ham, has only played 18 times in all competitions for Stoke this season.
A quarter of his game time has seen him play in the centre of defence but he has only featured in four of the last ten Premier League fixtures.
His career has seen him play for the likes of Chelsea, Portsmouth and Liverpool.
He lifted the Premier League title with Chelsea in 2004/05 before writing his name into Pompey folklore as he lifted the 2008 FA Cup.
Football Insider Verdict
At 32-years-of-age, Johnson will still be able to offer something to West Ham – and he’s got proven quality and experience. However, he hasn’t been getting in a fairly solid Stoke team and could surely only offer a cheap back-up option, bags of experience and squad depth at the London Stadium. Sam Byram will probably remain at the London Stadium and he should be Slaven Bilic’s first choice for the position. However, he needs to improve and someone like Glen Johnson could be the man to make that happen in a hurry.
In other West Ham news, Alan Curbishley has delivered his thoughts on the future of this ace.
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