The Hammers are looking to make an astute signing on deadline day. Alvaro Arbeloa, who left Real Madrid just two months ago, is on the verge of joining West Ham United.
The right-back position has been one that has been bothering Slaven Bilic and West Ham in the early days of the season. They have lost Arsenal loanee Carl Jenkinson and sold James Tomkins to Crystal Palace this summer, leaving them with the inexperienced Sam Byram as the only specialist right-back.
Bilic has turned winger Michail Antonio into a make shift right-back, but the Englishman doesn’t prefer to play in the role and is defensively error prone. However, West Ham could end up making a clever deadline day transfer by snapping up Spanish full-back Alvaro Arbeloa.
The 33-year-old left Real Madrid after his contract expired on 30th June 2016 and is all set to join the Hammers on a one-year deal, according to Sky Sports. The Spaniard has 355 top tier appearances under his belt, and the club see Arbeloa as a mentor to the 22-year-old Sam Byram.
West Ham have had a fruitful summer transfer window so far. They addressed their attacking problems by initially signing Andre Ayew from Swansea City, but the Ghanian suffered a thigh injury just 35 minutes into his debut against Chelsea. The injury is long term, and the Hammers have acted quickly by signing Italian striker Simone Zaza from the Serie A champions Juventus.
The signing of Arbeloa also represents a good piece of business, with the experienced Spaniard set to sign for free after attracting interest from Serie A giants AC Milan. The Real Madrid academy graduate was a mainstay for the La Liga giants since rejoining them from Liverpool in 2009. However, he was ousted in favour of Dani Carvajal this past season.
