According to Mirror (h/t The Sun), West Ham have been rebuffed in their efforts to sign Emerson Palmieri. The Hammers wanted the Chelsea man on loan as cover for Arthur Masuaku and Aaron Cresswell. Chelsea, however, refused the same as they feel like they have fixture congestion where Emerson would be needed.
West Ham have been dealt a blow with Arthur Masuaku’s post-surgery layoff. The defender finally got treated for a niggling injury and now could face a lengthy spell on the sidelines. That means the club are only left with Aaron Cresswell on the left side of the defence.
The bigger implication of that is the fact that David Moyes can no longer use his favoured 3-4-3 formation and will have to revert to a back-four. While the formation hasn’t been all too bad, it’s just that the back-three worked wonders and gave full-backs freedom to affect proceedings in the final third.
Not only does Masuaku’s absence rule that out, it leaves the team with just Cresswell as the only established left-back.
Emerson has been underused ever since Lampard took over and the arrival of Ben Chilwell did nothing to help that cause. With Marcos Alonso also at the club and Cesar Azpilicueta able to put in a shift at left-back, it seemed like Emerson’s days at the club looked to be numbered.
However, with Alonso falling out of favour, Emerson has been given sporadic chances. Given his age and experience, Emerson should be playing week in week out. That is clearly impossible at Chelsea due to the presence of Ben Chilwell. Emerson is a very decent left-back who can also put in a shift at wingback.
While West Ham may have been rebuffed once in their effort to sign him on loan, they should return for him as he suits their needs perfectly. With him, the club can revert to their favoured formation. They somehow need to convince Chelsea to let him go on a short-term loan deal.